Summer Changes Everything
by Phoenix-Clouden
Summary: The story of how relationships endure the toughest thing: Summer.


**Degrassi: The Next Generation**

_Summer Changes Everything_

_-Written by Rachel, Nova, and Phoenix Clouden_

_Disclaimer We do not own any rights to Degrassi:TNG, Degrassi Street, Degrassi Junior High, or Degrassi High. This fanfic is written from accounts we've witnessed and ideas we've created solely._

Hazel Aden laid up in bed staring at her ceiling fan. She had John Legend's "Ordinary People" playing from her stereo. The summer heat blazed through her open window as the sun cascaded down on her face. She stared aimlessly at her ceiling fan until it bored her to watch it spin. All she could do was think now. Jimmy was away at camp still and she had been contemplating their relationship for quite some time. She still hasn't revealed to her parents about Jimmy. She wasn't sure how they'd react for her to be involved with a boy at just 16 years old. Hazel missed Jimmy dearly, since the start of summer, Mr. Brooks sent Jimmy off to a basketball camp for handicapped people. Just as Hazel's mind was clouded with memories, and blissful thoughts of Jimmy, her phone rang. Hazel turned over in her bed and quickly answered it. "Hello?"

"Hey Haze, I miss you." A strong voice released from the telephone. Hazel laughed joyfully.

"Hey Jimmy, I miss you too." Hazel replied.

"Jimmy? Who's Jimmy? It's me Haze...Steven." he answered. Sudden memories flushed back to Hazel's mind as she remembered the boy on the phone.

With her voice half-excited and half-disappointed, she sighed and replied to Steven, "Hey, it's been awhile huh?" she said.

"Yeah, well. I'm coming down there for the end of summer and I was hoping I would be able to see you. Unless...Jimmy would have a problem with that." Steven stated.

Hazel lightly chuckled to herself with a hint of confidence, "Nah, it'll be fine. When do you get in?" Hazel asked.

"I'll be there tomorrow." Steven replied.

"Great. Can't wait." Hazel said.

"Me either." Steven said softly enough for Hazel to hear him and with that, he hung up the phone.

Meanwhile in Wasega Beach...

In a small house in Wasega Beach, Sean Cameron laid on his bed in his room, thinking of the time he had spent with his parents. He had finally recovered from the trauma of the shooting at school, and he knew it was about time he got home, and back to Ellie. Over the couple of weeks he had been staying here, he had missed Ellie, Jay and his other friends more and more, but as the time lengthened, someone else joined that group. Emma Simpson. Sean sighed, looked around his room and stood up. He went into the kitchen, where his mother and father sat at the table, drinking coffee on this fine Saturday morning.n a small house in Wasega Beach, Sean Cameron laid on his bed in his room, thinking of the time he had spent with his parents. He had finally recovered from the trauma of the shooting at school, and he knew it was about time he got home, and back to Ellie. Over the couple of weeks he had been staying here, he had missed Ellie, Jay and his other friends more and more, but as the time lengthened, someone else joined that group. Emma Simpson. Sean sighed, looked around his room and stood up. He went into the kitchen, where his mother and father sat at the table, drinking coffee on this fine Saturday morning.

"Oh, hello Sean." Mrs. Cameron greeted, without looking up, she had heard Sean come into the kitchen.

Mr. Cameron looked up from the newspaper that he had been reading and smiled at his son.

"It's time for me to go back to Toronto." Sean said immediately.

Mrs. Cameron's glance quickly changed from her coffee mug to her son. Her eyes were filled with surprise and astonishment. Her husband had a similar reaction, only he said something.

"What? Why? When? Sean, you can't leave! You are finally with someone who loves you! You don't have anyone to go to if y--"

Sean interuppted him, "Dad, the girl I love is there and all my friends."

His father hesitated, but then looked at his wife, who was still astonished.

"Well, if you really feel you would be better off." Mrs. Cameron said.

A smile sprung onto Sean's face, "Thanks." His smile widened and Sean went to his room, getting ready to pack.

Meanwhile At Sean's Apartment...

Ellie looked at her watch: 11:45 A.M. How much longer? She wondered that same question every single day. How much longer till Sean would come home? How much longer could she take living alone? How much longer? How much longer...?

The phone ringing halted Ellie's thoughts to an abrupt stop. She was startled. Taking a bit of time, she got herself up off the floor to respond to the constant noise-maker. Eventually, she answered it. "Hello?"

"Ellie...Hey, it's Alex."

Ellie let out a sigh of relief. "Hi, Alex."

Alex detected something disturbed in Ellie's voice. "Want me come over?"

"Sure." She hung up and sat back down on the bed, then turned off the barely-playing music on her computer, shut down the computer itself, and waited. Honestly, she had nothing better to do with her time.

After a little under ten minutes, there was a knock at the door. Ellie answered it. Immediately she hugged Alex and Alex embraced her in return.

"I'm so worried..."

"Don't be." She set Ellie upright and let herself in. "Is everything OK?"

"No...Not a call from Sean...Not a thing to do...My mom stopped calling, too. I think she's still in rehab. I'm so alone." She sat on the couch. Alex joined her.

She put a hand on Ellie's hand and they looked at each other. "You can count on me to always be here for you..."

Ellie slowly began to get closer and closer to Alex until finally, their lips touched, and nothing else at that moment mattered...

Meanwhile...

Hazel had hung up the phone and went back to staring at the ceiling as John Legend serenaded her. Now she had even more to think about, especially since her old friend was coming up to see her. Someone she hadn't seen in a long time. Hazel's mothers' voice interrupted her thoughts as she called Hazel downstairs. Hazel arose from her bed, and headed downstairs to answer her mother. "Yes mom?" Hazel called out.

"Come down here. Your father and I want to talk to you." Her mother responded back. Hazel practically reluctantly walked downstairs and put on a genuine smile for her parents. Hopefully showing them that their was nothing wrong with her. "Hazel, your father and I are a little concerned about you. You've been inside the whole summer and you haven't done anything. Are you sure you're okay?" Mrs. Aden asked.

"Yeah mom I'm fine. Just lazy I guess." Hazel replied.

"It's just not like you. You're always so energetic during school. Why don't you call up some of your friends? Like Paige. What happened to her anyway? I haven't seen her in awhile. Are you two still friends?" Mr. Aden asked.

Hazel went back in thought and remembered Paige was too depressed to even talk to anybody. With Matt gone and what happened at Prom, she's still a little saddened herself. "She's fine. We're still cool." Hazel responded.

"Okay, well there is something else. Your friend Steven is coming to visit you" Mrs. Aden announced.

"Yeah, I know." Hazel said.

"Well, I know you are a young woman, and Steven is a fine young man. Is there any possibility of a future between you two?" Mrs. Aden asked cheerfully.

"Mom!" Hazel erupted offensively.

"I was just asking." Mrs. Aden defended.

"No mom, Steven and I are just friends." Hazel responded. Hazel swallowed hard, she wanted to tell her parents badly about her and Jimmy, but she was completely frightened as to what they might say. Would they deny Jimmy because he wasn't Muslim? Would they disown her for keeping their relationship a secret? She didn't know, but before she thought about it any longer, the words came out of her mouth, "Mom, Dad. I have a boyfriend."

Realizing what she had just said, she sat and waited for her parents endless and antagonizing questions. This wasn't going to be pretty.

Meanwhile...

It seemed wrong to neither of them, Alex nor Ellie. As if...as if this were something they had done before, but it wasn't.

Alex began to lean back as Ellie did so, forward. This couldn't be more right. The feeling of warm bodies against each other as their souls had intertwined. Not a thing could be more real than that very moment...not a thing...

The makeout session lengthened itself, Alex's arms around Ellie. The kisses were deepened, feelings were arisen. But suddenly, Ellie arose. She looked at Alex. Alex didn't dare look back.

Ellie stood up, and Alex sat up. She turned the opposite way in near-mortification, but she was also the first to break the ice. "Was that a mistake?" she inquired Ellie over her shoulder. Ellie turned around the same time Alex did. To her surprise, Ellie was smiling...or as close to smiling as she had been for the past month. "Is that a no?" Alex re-asked. Ellie nodded.

Alex's smile soon faded away as a tear fallen into a lake. "What do you do about Sean?" The question surprised Ellie. In those mere seconds, about two months had been erased from her brain. She'd no longer missed Sean. She'd no longer felt lonely. That told her something.

"Sean," Ellie repeated. "What about Sean?"

"Well...Didn't you just say what happened wasn't a mistake?"

"Well, yeah. But it's not like I'm going to break up with him..." Ellie looked Alex in the eyes and added: "Right?"

Alex nodded. "No."

Ellie sighed at sat back over next to Alex. "OK...But I'm not breaking up with him." She shrugged. "Sneaking can be fun..."

Alex half smiled. They both stood and Alex gave Ellie a hug. "C-Could..." Ellie stummbled over her words. Alex knew what she meant. She leaned in towards her for one last passionate and oh so real kiss, just to see if it really was right. And it was. Ellie smiled. "So...No one knows?"

"Not unless you want your relationship with Sean to go ka-put," Alex answered.

Ellie nodded, and Alex left. "I'll...um...see you..." The door sealed her shut and suddenly, every previous feeling came bombarding Ellie, and again, she felt alone.

Meanwhile...

Emma Nelson sat alone on her porch. The sun was mid high, and it was nearly noon. No matter what the girl did, she couldn't stop thinking about Sean. She could read or do housework, but within about 5 minutes, her mind would be back on the boy that had broken her heart, again. When he decided to stay at Wasega Beach, she was so stunned and so surprised. She hated herself for not saying goodbye, or telling him how she really felt or how she has always loved him, even when he broke her heart, or hated her, or stole Snake's laptop. Emma sighed and leaned back in the wicker chair she was sitting in. She got ready to take a drink of her pink lemonade, trying to cool herself on this hot summer day, about a month before school started again, when she heard baby Jack crying inside. "Does he ever stop crying?" Emma asked her self, aloud.

She walked inside and went to baby Jack. Since her mom had started working again and Snake was always getting ready for school this month, she was constantly being stuck with watching her little brother. Emma, on the otherhand, didn't get much attention and was frequently babysitting Jack, or having to turn down her friends because of her everyday chore. This made her angry, because she really wanted free time before school started again, though it was apparent that the free time she wanted wasn't very relevant to her parents' needs or thoughts. After feeding him and changing Jack's diaper, Emma put the baby to bed and walked back outside. She continued thinking about how bad her summer has been, which continuously led to thinking of Sean. She sighed, realizing the last time she hung out with any of her friends was the first 2 weeks of summer, and since then, she had to turn them down. Now, her friends didn't even try to call, for they knew that they were just going to get rejected...again.

The Next Day...

Just as she suspected, her parents berated her with endless questions, concerns, assumptions, and everything else about Jimmy. Of course, they had their natural fears and doubts about the boys of Degrassi despite Hazel's continued efforts to tell her parents that Jimmy was different. For the most part, they did nothing. They only talked and expressed their concerns for hours. The next day, Hazel awoke to the gleaming sight of the sun as it again cascaded on her face. Hazel slowly rose from under her covers and went to get dressed for today. The days were still the same with her; she still felt that aroma of loneliness inside her. Maybe it would change when Steven got there, but there would still be something missing, and that something or someone, was definitely Jimmy.

As Hazel got up to get dressed, her phone rang. She flopped back down on her bed and grabbed the phone off the nightstand. "Hello?"

"Man, it's been awhile since I've heard your voice." A male voice replied.

"Hello?" Hazel said again trying to understand the male voice on the other end.

"Haze, don't tell me you forgot about me?" Jimmy asked.

"Oh Jimmy, when are you coming home? I miss you." Hazel said.

"Ha, you're not alone. I'll be home soon, but this camp is hard work." Jimmy said.

"So, you having a good time?" Hazel asked half-concerned with what Jimmy's reply would be.

"No, not as much as I could be having with you." Jimmy replied.

"Yeah, tell me about it." Hazel chimed softly. Jimmy chuckled softly. In the background was a lot of rattle and yelling.

"Look, I gotta go. Have a good day alright. I love you." Jimmy said.

"I love you too." Hazel said as she hung up the phone. Once again back to that sense of loneliness. Hazel laid in bed for several moments, once again staring at the ceiling fan until she heard her mothers' voice.

"Hazel come downstairs. Steven is here." she yelled.

Hazel slowly pulled herself out of bed, "I'll be right down." she yelled back as Hazel fixed herself up and got dressed. When she was fully attired, she headed downstairs and laid eyes on the now 16-year-old boy she hadn't seen in 6 years since he moved to Manitoba. He was taller now, with light green eyes, a caramel skin complexion and a body that could make some of the arabesque men jealous. Upon laying eyes on him. Hazel nearly fainted from shock and excitement. She could only say one thing. "S-Steve.."

"Hazel...I missed you..."

Meanwhile...

Sean spent a couple hours of the previous day packing the little amount of things he had. As he grabbed his backpack and bag, full of his possessions, Sean couldn't get rid of his everlasting smile. He knew that he was going to miss his parents, but they already decided on ideas to meet each other periodically. Sean lifted his things into the trunk of his father's car, who agreed to drive him to Toronto. Today was a beautiful day. There wasn't a cloud in the sky for miles, and the glittering waves of the water washed harmlessly up onto the shore. Sean grinned, he was going back to the person he loved, and his friends... He had an odd dream last night, about a girl that he loved, only it wasn't who he would expect it to be about. He got in the car with Mr. Cameron and his dad started driving. A couple hours later, he arrived at his home, and said farewell to his father. He knocked on the door, excited to see his long-missed girlfriend.

Meanwhile...

"Hazel?" Steven repeated. Hazel had been completely frozen from surprise. She never thought she'd ever see Steven again, and now here he is, and he's even more gorgeous than she could've imagined. Hazel still paused until Steven slowly made his way over to her and gave her a hug.

"Oh...Hi." she finally replied.

"Hi" Steven gave a chuckling reply.

"So what are you kids going to do?" Mrs. Aden asked.

"Maybe Hazel and I can hang out around town?" Steven suggested.

"Yeah, sure." Hazel answered resoundingly. She headed towards the door and outside.

"Be careful okay? Don't talk to any strangers, and don't accept rides from them, and..." Mrs. Aden was hushed silent by the door closing behind Hazel. She hated it when her mother did that.

"So, where to?" Steven asked.

"Umm...ya hungry?" Hazel asked.

"Sure." Steven replied. Hazel smiled gingerly as the two walked off to the Dot, and caught up in the meantime. On the way there, Steven kept Hazel entertained by telling goofy stories of his time spent in Manitoba. It was the most Hazel smiled all summer since Jimmy left. It made her feel better that she wasn't inside today, she had almost forgotten how good the wind felt when it blew and carressed her skin. The two finally made it to The Dot where Hazel walked straight into Spinner.

"Um..Spin, this is Steven, an old friend of mine. Steven this is Spinner, he used to go to my school." Hazel introduced.

"Hey, just sit down and I'll be right with you." an eager Spinner stated as he ran off back to the counter. Hazel and Steven sat down at a booth to talk.

"So what's been up with you?" Steven asked.

"The usual. School, friends...boyfriends." Hazel said.

"Oh right. So where is your boyfriend?" Steven somewhat mocked the notion.

"He's in camp right now." For some reason, Hazel felt it was unneccessary to mention that Jimmy was in a wheelchair at that moment.

"Hmph, isn't he a little concerned with leaving a great girl like you here alone? I mean, I'm sure there are guys who are always getting at you huh?" Steven stated. Hazel blushed, but didn't answer. "It's a shame though. It's things like this that make me hate my parents." Steven said.

"Why?" Hazel asked.

"If it weren't for them, I would've never left you, and who knows? Maybe I'd be the one you'd call your boyfriend, instead of always wondering "what if?" Steven said. Hazel let out a half-smile trying to seem flattered, but at the same time, uninterested.

"Okay, what can I get you guys?" Spinner entered and asked. Hazel ordered for the both of them as she didn't notice Steven's eyes never leaving her body. Spinner walked off to get the milkshakes as Steven and Hazel continued to talk.

"So you'll be here all month?" Hazel asked again.

"Yeah, you're the only person I really know down here. Is it alright if we hang out?" Steven asked.

"Sure, it's not like I have anything else to do." Hazel said.

"Well, I'm sure we'll have a great time." Steven assured as he held onto Hazel's hand. "I'm gonna hate going back though." Steve said.

"Why?" Hazel asked.

Steven's light green eyes locked onto Hazel's eyes, "Because you won't be there."

Meanwhile...

Finally off of her babysitting duty, Emma walked to the dot, not meeting anyone imparticular, she just wanted to get away from her family. The walk over was lonely and long, but it was nice and peaceful, which Emma loved. The sun beat down on Emma, who was wearing a blue skirt and light blue shirt with a white one underneath. An occasional wind went by and cooled the girl off, but otherwise, she was rather hot. Emma was rather thirsty, so when she got to the dot, she ordered a soda from Spinner. She saw Hazel and a very cute guy and smiled.

Meanwhile...

Ellie came to the door, thinking it was Alex. She opened the door and stared into familiar eyes. Eyes she hadn't looked into for a very long time.

"Sean?"

Sean nodded and grinned. He hugged her. Ellie was extremly surprised.

"Why didn't you call?"

"I wanted to surprise you." Sean answered.

Ellie nodded and let Sean inside. She didn't know what to think. With what happened with Alex the other day, and now Sean coming so...unexpectedly, it was all a huge rush to the girl. Ellie had begun to be happy without Sean again, and now she didn't know whether to tell him about her little session with Alex, or not to. She decided not to, trying to avoid Sean asking questions that she wasn't even sure about.

"I'm back, forever." Sean said.

Ellie forced a smile, "Cool..."

Meanwhile...

Hazel and Steven walked towards Steven's sisters' house, which is where he was staying for the month. Steven's house wasn't all that extravagant, but he had enough luxuries to keep company. As the two came to the door, it opened and Marrissa was walking out. "Hey M, you remember Hazel right?" Steven said.

"Haze! Oh my god, it's been so long!" Marrissa cheered as she leaned in and gave Hazel a hug. Marrissa was 21 years old, tall, and a finely tuned girl. "Well, I have to go to work, so make yourself at home alright? I'll be back later." Marrissa said as she headed into her car and drove down to the street on her way to work.

"Wanna come in?" Steven suggested.

"Um..sure." Hazel reluctantly replied. Steven led her into the front room.

"Thirsty?" he asked.

"Sure. Coke is cool." Hazel answered. She cut on the television and tried to watch some TV. Her mind had been someplace else all summer that it felt pretty nice to finally relax with some cable television.

"Cool, isn't it?" Steven said, returning to the couch with two cokes in hand.

"Yeah. That's one thing I miss about school. There was always a chance to watch TV." Hazel replied. She took a sip of coke and place it on the nearest coffee table. When she turned around to face the TV, she caught Steven and he didn't hesitate to kiss her. Hazel pulled away in seconds. "What are you doing?" Hazel screamed.

"Whoa, I'm sorry. I just...it's just...I haven't seen you in awhile, and...well, I've always wanted to do that." Steven replied.

"Well, glad you fulfilled your dreams." Hazel answered sarcastically, she rose from the couch and headed for the door, but Steven pulled her back.

"Wait, wait. I'm sorry. Really I am. Look, I didn't mean to hurt you or anything, I'm sorry." Steven stated quickly.

Hazel frowned angrily at Steven. "I'm gonna go. I'll see you tomorrow." Hazel shrugged away and walked out the door. She could only think about Jimmy, and how this might affect their relationship. Hazel started to walk home, thinking to herself about what just happened. She reached her house and went straight upstairs to her room. Again, she flopped down on her bed, turned on the stereo, and stared at the ceiling fan.

Meanwhile...

Emma Nelson sat in a booth at the back of the dot, slowly eating an ice cream sundae, Sean continuing to invade her mind. When she finally did clear her mind of the boy, she thought about how she finally stopped thinking about him, and started thinking about him again, it continued in that matter. As her Sundae began to melt, a boy with a white beater on and baggy blue jeans walked inside.

"Sean?" Emma asked, then stood up.

Sean grinned, "Hey Em. I'm back."

"Really?" Emma beamed, telling Sean that at least someone was happy he came back, because Ellie seemed pretty indescribable when she found out that Sean came back. Ellie was surprised, yes, but the boy had a feeling this surprise wasn't the best she had...but you could tell it was one of Emma's. Emma's expression wasn't a negative surprised, but a beyond positive, her eyes sparkled like diamonds and glistened like beautiful waves of ocean water. The smile she held onto her face wouldn't dissapear, it seemed as if her being sad was impossible.

Sean nodded, "Yeah, I really am."

Emma smiled again, "Let's sit down." She sat down in her former seat and Sean sat opposite of her.

He smiled, "I'm glad I'm back, but Ellie doesn't seem to be."

"Oh, I'm sorry." Emma said, then thought, _I sure am glad, I've missed you so much. I...I...I love you, Sean._

The Next Day...

Hazel's eyes slowly crept open as she heard the roar of her phone ringing. She turned over in her bed to answer it. "Hello?" she asked sleepily, still rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"Hey there, did I wake you?" he asked.

"Jimmy?!" Hazel shot up excitedly.

"Yeah, I've got some awesome news I wanted to tell you." Jimmy started. "I'm coming back tomorrow" he cheered. Hazel roared excitedly. She rolled over in her bed, laughing and screaming happily. Then, without warning, the events of what happened the other day crept back into her mind. She didn't want Jimmy to be upset, but she couldn't keep it from him.

"Well, there's something I wanted to tell you." Hazel said, not nearly as excited as she was before. "Um...Jimmy. Don't get mad alright." Hazel warned.

"Um..ok." Jimmy quietly responded.

"An old friend of mine came up here to visit me." Hazel started, she could sense Jimmy's heavy breathing on the other line. "And um...we hung out yesterday." Hazel paused again. "Then we went over to his house." Hazel paused again as she could literally feel Jimmy's heart racing from nervousness or anger. "And...he...he kissed me." Hazel finished. The phone remained silent for moments. Hazel spoke again, "Jimmy?" she didn't hear a word. All she heard was the dial tone. Jimmy had hung up. Hazel hung up the phone and passed out on the bed in tears.

She popped up seconds later with tears in her eyes, "I'm sorry!" she yelled aloud. Hazel looked around. She was tucked under the sheets, still somewhat sleepy. Her fan was still spinning, her radio still playing, and the sun just shining down on her face. Hazel took in a few deep breaths when she finally caught on. She sighed deeply and said, "Just a dream."

Meanwhile...

Ellie sat at home, completely surprised that Sean had come back. She didn't know whether she was happy, or sad, or disapointed. After yesterday, she didn't know anything to tell the truth. So, she called Alex, thinking that they could talk.

"Hello?" Alex answered the phone.

"Hey Alex, it's Ellie."

"Oh, hey Ellie." You could hear Alex's voice become some what happier.

"Um, do you want to come over? I need someone to talk to."

"Sure. Be over soon." Alex hung up, as did Ellie.

About 10 minutes later Alex arrived at Ellie and Sean's place. She knocked on the door, and Ellie answered it, then let her inside.

"I found out something today..." Ellie said.

Alex nodded, "Yeah?" She sat next to Ellie, on the couch...close to Ellie.

"Sean's back."

Alex looked surprised, "Does that mean that we..."

"No, not at all." She kissed Alex.

Alex nodded and kissed her back. As their lips parted, they met again.

Meanwhile...

Hazel sat up and contemplated her dream, wondering exactly how it would turn out, if she did tell Jimmy about Steven kissing her. Now she was worried. 'It might be a good idea to stay away from him' Hazel thought. Just then, the phone rang. Hazel pinched herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming again, "Ouch!" she yelped as she went to grab the phone. "Hello?"

"Umm...hey." A male's voice replied.

"Hey Steven." Hazel responded. There was a slight moment of silence on both ends until Hazel started to break it, "Look Steve..."

"Hazel, I love you." Steven interrupted.

"What?" Hazel asked.

"I do. I really do, but as a friend. I'm sure you feel the same way right?" Steven asked. Hazel didn't respond. She waited quietly for Steve to finish talking. "Hazel...could we just erase yesterday? I'm willing to forget about it. Can you?" Steven asked. Hazel smiled gingerly. The fact that Steven said that made her worrying disappear.

"Yeah." Hazel replied. "Let's just forget about it." Another moment of silence flew by until Steven broke it.

"So...you wanna hang out or anything?" he asked.

"Yeah, sure. Can I come over?" Hazel asked. She nearly slapped herself for suggesting it, but once it was out there, she didn't take it back.

"Sure if you want to." Steven replied.

"Cool. I'll be there in a few." Hazel answered. Steven laughed lightly and hung up the phone. Hazel hung up the phone and went to get dressed. For some reason, today felt different to her. It didn't feel like one of those humdrum, gloomy days. She was in an excited, somewhat frenzy kind of mood. Hazel went to her radio and cut on "A Box Full Of Sharp Objects" by The Used. She felt like jumping up and down and screaming the lyrics as loud as she could. It was one of the rare times this summer where Hazel had a smile on her face. She got dressed and headed out the door. Hazel walked the few blocks to Steven's house and caught Marrissa as she was going off to work. "Hey Marrissa!" Hazel greeted.

"Hey Haze! Will you be here later? We should catch up." Marrissa insisted.

"Well, I might be, but if not, just come by the house and we'll hang alright?" Hazel suggested.

"Yeah, sure." Marrissa slid into her car and drove off. Hazel turned around and saw Steven standing at the door. He waved her in, and she followed. Hazel walked in front of the familiar couch that although she wanted to forget, she couldn't help, but remember. Once her worrying fled her, she finally noticed something that she had ignored before: Steven was a great kisser.

"So what do you want to do?" Hazel asked.

"Well, let's see. I've got cards, dominoes, DVD's, CD's or we could just sit and talk." Steven suggested.

Without hesitation, and without thinking, Hazel leaned forward with a smirk, "What about this?" she asked as she deeply laid a kiss on Steven. Steven slowly pulled her away, surprised. Hazel, realizing what she had done, let her smirk fade, and showed a face of fear and idiocy. "Oh crap! I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that. Oh man, I'm so stupid." Hazel shouted aloud. Steven didn't reply. He hesitated for a moment, and then without thinking, he leaned in and returned Hazel's kiss. She wanted to pull away. She started to pull away, but she couldn't. For some reason, Hazel wasn't fighting this. She just laid back on the couch as they continued to kiss. Forgetting about everything. Even Jimmy.

Meanwhile...

Emma and Sean talked for quiet a while, Sean thinking of Emma the whole time and Emma thinking of him. But slowly, something occured to Sean...something that would change some of his decisions...

"I should go." Emma said. She didn't want to go, but her mom said she wanted her home soon, and it was past soon.

Sean nodded, "Yeah, I have to go unpack." He stood up, as did Emma and they left the Dot. They walked together for a little bit, then went their seperate ways.

Ellie kissed Alex again, they were in a full makeout session. But, little did Ellie know, someone was about to find out about this little session. As Alex kissed Ellie again, the front door opened and Sean Cameron stared, stunned, at Ellie and Alex. Ellie kissed Alex again, not hearing the door.

"Ellie?" Sean asked loudly.

Both Ellie and Alex quickly looked over at Sean, stunned and startled.

"Sean, hey..." Ellie said.

"Whoa, I mean...what the hll?" Sean said.

"I have to go." Alex said, then stood up and quickly left.

Ellie looked a little nervous, no one was supposed to find out. "Sean..."

Sean nodded.

"I'm sorry."

"No, no, it's nice to know you were cheating on me with a girl..." Sean said sarcastically.

"Sean!"

"Are you bi, or a lesbian now?"

"I don't know..."

"Wow, so much can change in such a small amount of time, huh?"

Ellie didn't answer, "Sean, maybe we should break up, or take a break."

Meanwhile...

Hazel walked home with her head slumped to the ground. Her eyes were only focused on her footsteps. She wasn't thinking because no thought would come to mind. She was merely mute in body and mind. Hazel finally reached her house and casually walked inside, she tried to go upstairs without talking to her parents, but Mrs. Aden called out to her, "So what did you do today sweetheart?" Mrs. Aden asked. Hazel didn't reply, she merely nodded and headed upstairs. "Jimmy called for you sweetie." Mr. Aden yelled up the stairs. Hazel pouted and hurriedly ran to her room and shut the door.

She collapsed onto her bed and crawled under the covers. She put the pillow over her face to block away the sun, turned off her radio, and ceiling fan. She didn't want to think, she didn't want to cry, she didn't even want to breathe. Unfortunately, she had to, and her moment of depression was interrupted by her phone ringing. Hazel sighed heavily, as she turned over in her bed. She stared at the phone as it rang two more times, hoping that the person on the other line would give up.

Hazel conceded and picked up the phone. "Hello?" she said softly with her voice lightly breaking.

"Hey, where ya been?" A male voice asked.

"Just...out." Hazel replied softly.

"You sound sad. Are you okay?" he asked. Hazel couldn't answer, her voice started to crack. Her eyes started to leak out a flowing rush of tears. "Hazel?" he asked again with his voice gaining concern.

"Jimmy...I'm sorry." Hazel replied in between tears. Jimmy didn't answer her, he quietly waited for her to continue. Hazel could barely get the words out, so she just hung up the phone. Sadly, this time, it wasn't a dream.

Meanwhile...

Sean raised his eyebrows, "What?" He asked, though he already knew.  
"Maybe we sh--" Ellie started.  
"I know." He interuppted, "I know what you are going to say."  
Ellie nodded and looked at him.  
"Ellie, are you sure? I...I love you."  
She nodded again, "I'm sure. We have to take a break at least."  
Sean sighed, "No, not a break, let's just end it now." He opened the door and left, slamming at he walked out.  
Ellie sighed, she didn't want this to happen. She didn't think she loved him any more, but she still didn't want a break up or anything to go like this...at all. In fact, she wasn't even going to break up with him yet. She was going to use him to cover up her and Alex, as shallow as it really was. Ellie sighed again. As for now, she didn't know whether she should pack her things and move out, maybe move back in with her mom or just wait. She finally decided on waiting, hoping she could talk to Sean when he came back...if he comes back...

Meanwhile...

Emma was bored, and, of course, thinking about the one and only, Sean. She thought she felt something, chemestry, that intesified her feelings for the boy. But, thoughout the whole time they talked she couldn't figure out if he felt the same, or not. She talked to Manny, who was totally convinced that he was like, in love with her, again. Emma remembered her reaction, _"Really? Em, he is so in love with you!"_ Emma laughed to herself. She hoped, really hoped, that Manny was right. Emma was upstairs, she looked outside. It was still pretty light, being summer and all, and the time was around 6:00. Emma stood up from the chair she had been sitting in. "Mom, I'm going for a walk!" She called. When Spike said okay, she left. Emma didn't even know where she was going. She was just happy that she had some more freetime to herself, though company...a certin company...would be nice. She walked around, aimlessly, the wind lightly tossing her hair around. The wind strengthened and she looked away from it as she continued to walk. Something, or someone, bumped into her, and Emma fell and hit her butt to the ground hard. "Ow..."  
"Wow, I'm sorry." A male voice said.  
Emma nodded as the sat next to her, he had fallen too.  
Emma laid down, she hadn't looked at the boy yet.  
The boy looked at her.  
"I'm Trey."  
Emma looked at the boy. He had light blonde surfer hair and amazing sea blue eyes. He took her breath away.  
"Who are you?" Trey asked.  
"Huh? Oh, Emma." She sat up.  
Trey smiled, "Good name..." He stood up and held out his hand to help her, "May I assist you?" He asked in a playful, but professional voice.  
Emma laughed and took his hand, then he helped her up.

Meanwhile...

The past week was so quiet and dull for Hazel. The sun wasn't shining down on her anymore, her ceiling fan wasn't spinning much, and the only thing that played in her radio was Taking Back Sunday. It had been playing the same song for 3 days straight: iYou Know How I Do./i Hazel softly sang the words to herself. She was too depressed to get out of bed. Mostly because Jimmy hasn't called in a week, but the phone was still ringing, and everytime it was Steven, begging to see her again. Hazel didn't want to admit to Jimmy what had happened, but she even had trouble saying it to herself.

Hazel finally rolled over and pulled herself out of bed. She looked like a zombie, her eyes were droopy from sleeping and crying. Her breath was hot and dry, and her hair was a flurry mess. Hazel went into the bathroom and screamed at herself. She had let her looks go to hell, but at the same time, she didn't care. She didn't feel like being self-conscious with the mood she was in. Suddenly, her heart grew heavy and she again felt weak. She headed back towards her bed and crawled into it. Then, the phone rang. Hazel writhed in agony at the loud ringer, but turned over to answer it. "Hello?" she answered.

"Hey" a voice reluctantly answered back.

"What do you want?" Hazel shouted.

"Why are you ignoring me like this? What did I do?" he shouted back.

"Steven, I cheated on my boyfriend...with you. I don't want to see you right now." Hazel replied.

"C'mon Haze, I'm only going to be here for two more weeks. We shouldn't seperate on a bad part like this." Steven explained. Hazel sat in silence. She didn't respond. "C'mon, how bout we go out today. Go get some food, go to a movie, go bowling, anything." Steven argued. Hazel lightly chuckled to herself.

"I look terrible." she replied.

"That's okay." Steven joked.

"Alright, be here in an hour." Hazel conceded.

"Excellent. See you then. Bye." Steven said as he hung up the phone. Hazel smiled to herself. She suddenly felt a little better. Of course there was that moment of guilt, but today she was going to get over it. It wasn't going to ruin her day. Hazel climbed back out of bed and into the bathroom. She cut on her stereo and played a song called i"Blue Bird"/i as she got prettied up and ready to go out again.

Meanwhile...

Emma had had Trey on her mind for the rest of the day, and the day previous to this one. She couldn't get him off her mind, and he and her had talked quite a bit, he was perfect. Sure enough, as the picture of him flashed in her mind, the phone rang.

"Hello?" Emma asked.

"Hey, you." A male voice said, it was Trey.

"Hey." Emma gleamed.

"Um, I'm going to this party tonight, and I was wondering if you would like to come..."

"Yeah!" Emma said quickly, "I mean, uh sure." She said, feeling totaly embarassed.

"Great, I'll pick you up at around 6:30."

"Alright, see you then."

"Bye." Trey hung up, then Emma did the same. She grinned and pressed the 3 on her phone, speed dialing Manny.

Meanwhile...

Ellie Nash sat at home...her real home, with her mom. She had talked to Sean, and they both decided that it would be best if she just went back home, for the both of them. Sean was still pretty heart broken, and Ellie had a rather interesting mood, it was very...undescrible (spelling?) and odd. She sighed, she had, despite the break up, still missed Sean. She looked at the phone, wanting to call Alex, who she haden't talked to since the "incident".

Sean, as well, sat at home. He was on his couch, staring at a dirty spot on the celing. He sighed, wishing someone was there too keep him company. He figured he'd call someone, but whenever he thought of calling someone, Emma came to mind. He did want to see her, but he didn't, at the same time. It was a weird feeling. He didn't want to risk going to far with her or something, not yet, he wasn't ready to move on...

Meanwhile...

Hazel cleaned herself up and put on a magenta colored halter top dress that fell to her knees. She perked herself up and smiled. Just as she was heading out the door of her bedroom. Her phone rang. Hazel paused at the door. It could've been Steven, but it also could've been Jimmy. Hazel couldn't help it, she went to answer the phone. "Hello?" she asked. The person on the other line paused for awhile. "Hello?" Hazel asked again.

"I'm trying to brace myself, because I know that when I ask this I'm not going to get the answer I want to hear." Jimmy replied. Hazel didn't answer, she just waited. "Haze, why were you so upset when I talked to you before?" Jimmy asked.

Hazel refused to speak, as if her throat had closed up on her, or as if a cat had hold of her tongue. She simply choked out, "I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what?!" Jimmy shouted. "I'm-I'm sorry. I just want to know what's wrong. You're really scaring me Hazel." Hazel sobbed softly at Jimmy's words.

"I kissed another guy." Hazel said quickly. She waited in silence for Jimmy's response.

Jimmy breathed in heavily, "So what does that mean for us?" he asked sternly.

"Nothing. It meant nothing Jimmy. I never wanted to do anything like that. I'm sorry. I love you." Hazel blurted out quickly nearly breaking into sobs again.

"Hazel, I love you too, but I don't know about this. We can talk when I get there." Jimmy said.

"Jimmy? Are you breaking up with me?" Hazel asked softly.

"No." Jimmy replied coldly and he hung up the phone. Hazel fell back down and cried again for several moments until her phone rang again.

She quickly jumped up for it, "Hello?" she asked.

"Hey, you're still coming right?" Steven asked.

"Ummm...yeah, I'll be there soon." Hazel stated and she hung up the phone, dried the tears from her eyes, and went off to meet with Steven.

Meanwhile...

Ironically, it turned out that Manny was going to the same party that Trey had asked Emma to that day. Manny arrived at Emma's house, around 5:30, with a bunch of clothes, excited to help Emma find something to wear. Emma had already stated, though, that she wasn't going to show up like a slt, and Manny, after a lot of arguing, agreed. Emma had just taken a shower, and her hair was drying, as Manny got ready. Manny was wearing a red v-neck halter top, that showed a lot of cleavage and the majority of her stomach. Across the shoulder, slightly above her chest, a butterfly of black rinestones was on her shirt. She wore a pair of black, low-rider, tight, smooth pants, (not jeans), and a pair of red shoes to accent the shirt. A choker-necklace with a red and black butterfly was hooked around her neck. The butterfly was hooked to a piece of black silk cloth, which was tied in the back, for the necklace. She had straightend her hair and she had black eyeliner and mascera on. She looked great, if you call looking like a total slt great. Emma's hair was dry at about 5:45, and Manny finished at 6:00. She had thirty minutes to transform Emma from a girl in a towel to a hot, irrisistable girl.

Sean had a party that he was supposed to go to with Jay, though he wasn't sure he was going to go. After debating for about 10 minutes, Sean finally decided to go. He stood up and got in the shower quickly, then after the shower ended, got dressed in a dark blue beater and black jeans. Coincidentally Jay showed up, about the same time that Sean finished getting ready. Sean and Jay drove to the party, and when they arrived, Sean knew that this would be fun, no matter how in the dumps he was. But, nonetheless, he didn't let anything bother him.

Meanwhile...

Emma sat at home, waiting impatiently for Trey, who was supposed to pick her and Manny up. She looked at Manny and smiled, "This will be awesome."

Manny nodded, "Totally."

About 5 minutes later, the doorbell rang. Emma stood up, then walked to the door, and smiled at Trey, who was standing there, "Hey!"

Trey grinned, "Hey, Emma."

Manny walked over, "I'm Manny..." She checked him out and winked.

Em elbowed her and smiled at Trey, "Let's go."

Trey nodded, then led the girls towards his yellow 2005 Mustdang. It was an...amazing car. Trey opened the passenger's side door for Emma, and Em stepped in, followed by Manny, who sat in the back. Trey got into the driver's seat, then started his car. He grinned at Emma again, then started driving towards the party.

Meanwhile...

Hazel hurriedly left the house and walked down to Steven's house. He was waiting on the porch in a camuoflage gray and white hat with an all balck buttoned shirt and camuoflage tie, and black pants. He looked ravishing. Hazel strolled up looking exquisite as usual. Steven flashed a coy smile, and greeted Hazel with a warm hug. "So, where to?" Hazel asked.

"Bowling?" Steven suggested.

"Yeah, sure" Hazel answered. The two walked off hand-in-hand towards the alley with smiles on their faces. Hazel couldn't help, but smile when she was around Steven. Even though her relationship with Jimmy was in danger, Steven still had a way of making her laugh or smile. The walk to the alley was 15 minutes away, but it took them a half-hour to get there because they kept stopping to goof around for minutes on end. It looked like something straight out of a romantic comedy, only it seemed as if Steven was the wrong guy, or maybe he wasn't. The two finally reached the bowling alley and Steven paid for the shoes and the lanes. They bowled, and laughed for hours. When Hazel finally hit a strike, she fell down on the lane, and started to laugh. Steven was laughing too, but came over to help her up.

"Here, lemme help you." Steven said as he extended his hand towards Hazel. She stared deeply into his light green eyes, and smiled gleefully. "Here, I'll let you bowl my turn, so you can redeem yourself." Steven offered as he handed Hazel his ball and slipped behind her. Steven put a hand on Hazel's hip and another on the back of her arm. "Here this way, you probably won't fall." Steven leaned in and guided Hazel's body with the ball. She let it go and the ball rolled to the pins. Hazel hit another strike. "See?" Steven said.

"Yeah, I see." Hazel replied, even though she wasn't focusing on the ball, or the pins, but on Steven's eyes. Around 3 in the afternoon, Hazel and Steven left to go to the movies. They went to see i"Ray"/i. "This is a great movie" Hazel whispered to Steven in the darkness of the movie theater.

"Yeah, it rocks." Steven added. He placed an arm across Hazel's shoulder, and she responded by laying her head on Steven's shoulder as they continued to watch the movie. "Well, I guess it's home we're headed to huh?" Steven said.

"Yeah. This was a cool day Steven. Thanks." Hazel replied.

"Yeah, I'm just glad you spent it with me. I know you needed to get out of the house." Steve said. Hazel and Steven walked back over to their neighborhood. "Well, I guess this is where we part ways." Steve said as the two reached Hazel's door.

"Yeah, well. I had a good time." Hazel said.

"Yeah, me too. Well, I'll see you soon." Steve said as he walked off. Hazel turned around and slipped inside. She shut the door behind her and smiled to herself. That was until she heard her mothers' voice call to her from the kitchen.

"Hazel honey, James called. He said it's important that you call him back." she shouted.

"Thanks Mom." Hazel replied, even though she was utterly terrified if that phone call meant Jimmy was going to break up with her. She didn't know what to think, but she was afraid. Hazel just stood there, waiting, and thinking. "That's exactly what he's going to do. I know it." Hazel said aloud to herself. She tapped her head harshly against the back of the door, while her mother was in the kitchen.

"Honey, are you okay?" Mrs. Aden yelled from the kitchen without looking.

"Yeah, Mom. I'm just gonna go back out and get some air alright." Hazel informed casually.

"Ok, hun. Be back soon alright." Mrs. Aden responded. Hazel walked back out the house and walked down the street a few blocks. She found herself on Steven's front door, and she knocked. Steven gallanty came to the door. He had a smile on his face, which went to a look of confusion when he saw Hazel on his porch.

"Hey. Just saw you, didn't I?" Steven mused.

"Can I come in?" Hazel asked.

"Sure" Steven responded with his voice growing concern. "Is everything alright?" He asked.

"No. I think I really screwed things up." Hazel replied.

"Is there anything I can do?" Steven asked.

"No." Hazel chuckled softly, "I don't even know why I came here." she said.

"Hey, we're friends right?" Steven asked as he placed his index finger under Hazel's cheek, so she'd face him.

"Yeah." Hazel slowly replied. "But there is something wrong" she started. "Why is it that I'm compelled to kiss you?" Hazel asked aloud.

Steven inched closer to Hazel on the heavy leather couch in the living room. "Do me a favor...don't fight it." Steven said as he leaned in closer and kissed Hazel again. She returned the kiss this time, with more intensity, more passion, and excitement that she had experienced in months. Hazel lay back and Steven gently laid on top of her. Their kissing ensued and developed to fondling. Steven had slowly slid Hazel's shoulder strap of her dress down. Anxiously excited, but half-waiting for Hazel to urge him to stop. The latter never came. Steven had released both straps from her shoulders. To reciprocate, he removed his shirt revealing his hardened abdomen. The two were still engaged in kissing as their hands continued to palm the other.

Without notice, the front door swung open again, and Marrissa stood at the door. "What the hell?" she shouted. Steven climbed off of Hazel and Hazel straightened herself. Marrissa shot a cold stare at Steven. "I'm going to talk to you later" she pointed and stated viciously. "But, I want to talk to you now." Marrissa said referring to Hazel. She grabbed Hazel by the arm and they returned outside into the darkness of the night. Marrissa walked Hazel home, sharing some valuable information about her brother with Hazel.

Meanwhile...

Sean stared around, but he wasn't looking at the good-looking girls. Instead, his eyes just wandered the room, hoping Emma was there, though he was doubting her presence at the party. He figured this wasn't one of her types of activities, still.

Meanwhile...

Emma was wearing a white spaghetti strapped tank top, that revealed her belly button. As for bottoms, Emma had a pair of light blue denim jeans. Her shirt had a small flowered sequin on the bottom left corner, which was the same blue as her jeans. For shoes, she had white flip-flops. In her ears were silver hoop earrings. Her hair was left down, and completely spiraled. She looked fantastic.

Trey smiled at Emma, "You look amazing."

Emma blushed, and smiled, "Thanks, yo--"

"Thanks to me." Manny interrupted.

"I was going to say, you too." Emma said. And he did. He was wearing a blue button up shirt, with a white one underneath and blue jeans.

When the group finally arrived at the party, Manny left with her other friends, leaving Emma and Trey alone. They walked inside, and Emma immediately saw Sean standing ahead.

Meanwhile...

Ellie sat up from her bed at home. She stood up in her room, and paced back and forth in place. She had her finger in her mouth, and she continued to knaw away at her nail debating whether she should pick up the phone or not. Every minute she'd inch over towards the phone, but would retract before even picking it up. Ellie folded, and sat back down on her bed. She flopped back and looked up at the ceiling still engaged in thought. That moment in which her lips met with Alex's was a moment she wouldn't trade for nothing. Granted, she probably hurt Sean terribly, but her mind couldn't shake away the image of her and Alex kissing. Her body couldn't shake away that feeling of insatiable enlightenment. "What the hell is wrong with me?" Ellie asked herself aloud.

Ellie sat up and went to walk downstairs, but before she reached the door of her bedroom, her phone rang. Ellie paused at the door and stared at the phone as it rang once more. Ellie moved towards it and picked it up. "Hello?" she asked.

"I'm sorry about Sean." Alex's voice replied.

"Don't worry about it." Ellie responded light-heartedly.

"Well, in a way, I guess I should feel bad, but I actually feel kind of weird." Alex stated.

"Yeah, me too." Ellie replied. "I wish someone would just throw a book at me and say 'this is how you should be feeling'" Ellie joked.

"Yeah, and the sequel would be 'This is what you are'." Alex joked. The two chuckled on the phone together. "Ellie, are we gay?" Alex said outright.

"I don't know. I've never felt this way for a girl, y'know?" Ellie answered.

"Me either." Alex replied. There was a moment of silence that lasted for an eternity for both of them. "Ellie, did you like it?" Alex asked.

"Yeah...I did." Ellie shyly responded.

"Me too." Alex let out a heavy sigh. "I don't know how to feel. This is strange. Incredibly strange." Alex said.

"It doesn't have to be." Ellie answered.

"What are you saying? You want to be gay?" Alex shouted.

"I don't know." Ellie softly replied.

"This is too damn weird for me Ellie." Alex responded in her usual haughty tone. And without a moment of hesitation, Alex hung up. Ellie dropped the phone on the receiver and fell back to her bed. Confused about who she was, and about the way she felt. Even if she was gay, is that really the kind of life she wants to live? Ellie grabbed her pillow and rubbed it over her face in anger, frustration, and most importantly, confusion.

Meanwhile...

Sean and Emma's eyes met, and for a couple seconds, neither of them looked away, until Emma did. He frowned, when he saw her with some guy.

Emma smiled at Trey and Trey smiled back. "Want to dance?" Trey asked.

Emma smiled, "Sure."

Trey took her hand and walked to where everyone was dancing. As they walked to the dance floor, the song Sunday Morning by Maroon 5 came on. Trey and Emma danced to the beat, having a good time, songs came after that, and they danced for about 4 songs afterwords. After the last song they danced to, Trey smiled, "I'll go get us some water, be back in a second."

Emma nodded, "Sounds good." She was having a great time, Trey was awesome, but, for some reason, throughout all the dances, she kept thinking of Sean.

Meanwhile...

Marrissa had her hand firmly placed on Hazel's shoulder, so she wouldn't fight her off, and she wouldn't look back for Steven. The ladies reached Hazel's house, and sat down on the front porch. "Hazel, what the hell is wrong with you?" Marrissa said while shaking Hazel by her shoulders viciously. Marrissa frustratingly threw her face into her hands and sat with her knees up to her chest. Hazel looked on confusingly.

"Marrissa, what's the problem?" Hazel asked trying to put her hand on Marrissa's shoulder, but she shrugged away.

"There's some things about Steven that you don't know." Marrissa replied. She stood up and looked down on Hazel. "Hazel, you should stay away from Steven. He'll hurt you. He will." Marrissa said as she ran off back towards her home. Hazel collected herself on the porch for a few minutes until she slowly walked back inside the house. She walked upstairs to her room asking herself a multitude of questions. What exactly happened in there with Steven? Was she falling for him? What about Jimmy? What about Jimmy? What about...

The phone rang to interrupt Hazel's thoughts. She reached over for the phone, and answered it. "Hello?"

"Hey, what's up?" Jimmy asked.

"Jimmy!" Hazel exclaimed. "How are you?" Hazel asked.

"A little upset, but I have to tell you something." Jimmy started. Hazel braced herself for the worst. She was certain Jimmy was going to dump her and based on what just happened, he had every right. "I'm willing to forget what you told me." Jimmy stated.

"Jimmy..."

"Please, just promise me, promise me it'll never happen again." Jimmy pleaded.

"I promise. I really really promise." Hazel answered in between tears. When that was over. Jimmy and Hazel continued to talk about everything they once talked about before: Life, love, the world, people; anything that came to mind was the topic of discussion between the two. By 11:30 PM, they finally hung up the phone. Hazel laid down in her bed with a smile on her face. A smile that had been put there for a good reason. She was certain that she was happy. And that Jimmy was the guy she needed before any guy. Hazel knew what she had to do. Tomorrow, while Marrissa is at work, Hazel was going to go over to Steven's and apologize, and break off their connection for good. Hazel couldn't wait for this summer to be over, so she could be back together with Jimmy again. Without hesitation, Hazel slipped under her covers with John Legend serenading her, her window blinds open, and her ceiling fan spinning. For the first time in a while, especially in this month, Hazel was looking forward to tomorrow.

Meanwhile...

As Trey was gone, Sean found it a perfect time to confront Emma. He walked over to her.

"Hey..."

Emma looked at him, "Um, hey."

"What's up?"

"Nothing much." Emma's feelings for Sean quickly came back into her mind.

"So...That guy you are here with...Is he your boyfriend?"

Emma shook her head, "No, I mean, kind of. This is a date...But we aren't going out." She said quickly and nervously.

Sean nodded, "Oh..." He started to turn, but stopped himself and looked back at Emma, "I love you. I always have." He kissed her on the cheek, then left, leaving Emma utterly stunned by what she just discovered. She would have never guessed that Sean Cameron still felt the same way as she did. She stared as he walked away.

Trey came back over, "Hey." He kissed her on the cheek and handed her a water bottle. Emma smiled, still looking in the direction Sean had left in.

"Em, something wrong?" Trey asked, sounding slightly concerned.

Emma didn't answer, she was still staring ahead of her.

"Emma? Hello? Are you okay?" Trey asked again.

Emma looked over, "Huh? What?"

"Are you okay?"

Emma nodded, "Yeah, I'm...I'm fine."

Meanwhile...

Daybreak finally set into Hazel's room. Her eyes opened to the somewhat familiar sense of summer that she had come to recognize: the ceiling fan was spinning, John Legend was serenading from her stereo, and the bright sun slanted across Hazel's eyes from the partially open drapes. Hazel sat up with a heavy gleam across her face. In that moment, she had a feeling that nothing at all could ruin her day. Hazel slid out from under her covers and went into the bathroom only to run back out once the phone rang.

"Hello?" Hazel asked

"Hey, good morning." Steven's voice replied from the phone.

"Hey" Hazel responded dejectedly. "Look there's something I have to tell you." Hazel admitted.

"Hey, why don't you come over?" Steven suggested.

"No. I just need to tell you this." Hazel started.

"Well, just come by and tell me." Steven interjected.

"No, look..."

"I have to go, come by later alright. Bye." Steven said, and with that, he hung up the phone. Hazel went back to the bathroom to get ready. She wanted to tell Steven that what happened was never going to happen again, but she didn't know if she could do it over his house. After all, her past visits there haven't been talkative at all. Hazel laid back in her bed and thought; she knew she was strong enough to go through with this. She had to. Her love for Jimmy was stronger than anything. So, after much deliberation, Hazel got ready to go to Steven's again. Hopefully, for the last time.

Meanwhile...

Alex hadn't been feeling any better about any of this than Ellie had, but what happened happened, and couldn't be un-happened. At least, that's how Alex put it in her mind.

Thoughts about the first kiss and how...real...it was made her cringe. Not it the bad way, in a way that made  
her feel...different. Different from Jay, or any other boyfriend she ever had. Not in a good way, but in a bad way, either. She sighed. How she had talked to Ellie was rude, and not the way she had meant it to come out. Nonetheless, she wasn't upset.

Alex didn't care whether Ellie's relationship with Sean was completely and totally over, finished, because of her. But what she really cared about was how things would roll over came school. Degrassi CS was back in session in a little over a month. Till then, something would have to be done, and sneaking around was not it...

Meanwhile...

Ellie was fed up with it. She missed Alex, but she missed Sean, too. Being able to reconsile who she missed most was the hard part.

She'd grabbed her CD player and was playing and older Green Day record: "Time of your Life," _nimod._

Ellie mummbled the words to herself as she thought about the past couple of days and the week before, "It's something unpredicatble, but in the end is right. I hope you had the time of your life..."

The words repeated themselves in her brain. Was it just a spur-of-the-moment fling? Or something she could see being long-term? Was she really a leasbian? Or straight? Ellie wished not to be classified by such names, such labels. She felt like Marco; she sighed. Maybe she was lesbian. Maybe she was straight. Or maybe she was niether...Or something in between...Maybe she was a little bit of both...like...

"I'm bi?" Ellie thought to herself over the violiins tat had joined the acoustic guitar. It was hard for her to hear herself, so she pressed paused, flung off her headphones, tossed on a black leather jacket, and headed out the door with a smile on her face. This wasn't news to be told over the phone...

Meanwhile...

Hazel stood up from her bed, and hurried to get dressed. She put on a long black t-shirt, and a pair of rough wrangler jeans. She was trying her hardest not to look attractive, hoping maybe Steven wouldn't try anything. Hazel cautiously headed out of her house. She reached the door when her parents called her back. "Honey?" her mom said.

Hazel turned around quickly and nervously, "Y-yeah?" she replied.

"Glad to see you going out again. I guess you and Steven have been having a great time hanging out." her mom inquired.

"Yeah Mom, real great." Hazel muttered.

"Hazel..." Mr. Aden started in. "You two are just friends right?" he asked.

"Yes dad!" Hazel replied with her voice returning its temperal tone.

"Just making sure. I wouldn't want any guy to take advantage of you, and I wouldn't want you to fall for anything like that alright." Mr. Aden stated sternly.

"I understand Dad. Don't worry." Hazel answered. She opened the door and hurried out the house. She ran away from the door as fast as she could. The feeling of somewhat lying to her parents sickened her. She knew she had to break it off with Steven. She couldn't stand this feeling. She hurried towards Steven's house, but when she got there, she suddenly remembered something. "What if Marrissa is home?" Hazel asked herself.

Hazel took a deep breath. Even if Marrissa was here, it wouldn't matter because she was going to tell Steven off. For Jimmy's sake, her parents sake, but mostly for her own sake. She walked up on Steven's porch, and swallowed hard. There were butterflies swarming around in her insides. She was catching heavy breaths, and sweating prefusely. Her hand shook slightly as she went to knock, but her eyes saw that the door was slightly ajar, so without hesitation and without thinking, Hazel pushed the door in. What her eyes saw stopped every motion in her body. She was stunned. She was shocked. She couldn't move. Hazel simply couldn't believe what she saw.

Meanwhile...

Trey nodded, "Okay..."

Emma sighed, and though she wanted to go after Sean, she couldn't manage to get her feet to move, which boggled her. She guessed that she wanted to stay with Trey, just as much as go see Sean. Things had been moving so fast after Sean came back, and it was slowly starting to scare Emma. She walked over to the food and drink tables and grabbed a beer, then walked over to Trey and took a drink, then smiled. She was going to have fun tonight, she was determined.

Sean was awstruck that he had even told Emma he loved her, muchless kiss her on the cheek. He was rather hurt when he found out that that guy was Emma's date, but it could've been worse, he could've been her boyfriend.

After about an hour, Emma was completely drunk off of about 7 beers. She was getting another one, and in 30 minutes, had too more. Trey was getting worried about Emma, but throughout his protests, she still wouldn't stop drinking.

Emma stumbled over to the food and drink table again, Trey behind her.

"Emma, I think you've had enough beer."

Emma whirled around, another beer in her hand, and she was getting ready to open it, "Don't you tell me what to do or if I've had too much to drink! Shut up." She stumbled out of the house, and fell down the stairs, hitting her head, and knocking her out almost intstantaneously. (spelling?)

Trey had followed her, and saw her fall, "Emma?! Emma, are you okay?!"

Of course, there was no answer.

Meanwhile...

"Hazel?! Hazel!" Steven screamed, but Hazel wouldn't respond. She couldn't. The shock of it all had her paralyzed from movement, thought, and emotion. "Hazel!" Steven screamed again while shaking Hazel.

"Stop shaking me." Hazel answered softly in a monotone voice. Steven went to touch Hazel again. "Don't...touch me." Hazel stifled out. Her movements were still slow as her shock was slowly wearing off.

"Hazel, I can explain!" Steven started. Hazel covered her ears and closed her eyes tightly. Hoping that this was just a harsh nightmare like the one from before with Jimmy, but when she opened her eyes again, she was still in the same place: inside Steven's house, staring at him in a pair of gray briefs and staring at the person on the couch who was on top of Steven only moments ago.

Hazel stared coldly at Steven with her eyes starting to water. Hazel didn't think Steven would hurt her like this. This wasn't what she expected Marrissa's warning to be like. Maybe Steven would be the love-em-and-leave em type. Or the 'has six kids in four countries' type, but this, this wasn't something she had in mind. Hazel returned her glare to the person on the couch. She looked over what that person had that she didn't. It was more than evident what that person had that she didn't have. That person...was a guy. "Hazel, I never meant for this to happen, it just..." Steven started. Hazel turned around quickly and headed out the door of Steven's house. She ran as far away from there as she could. She knew for sure that she would never again be returning. Hazel wanted to cry, she wanted to scream. She had been used, manipulated, decieved, but most of all, hurt. How could she have let herself fall into this trap? Even though, it was over. Hazel still had one hurdle to crawl over. She still had to tell Jimmy, and she could only hope that he would be able to forgive her, but as Hazel thought about it, she doubted it more and more. She could only hope that she was wrong.

Meanwhile...

Emma laid on the ground, unconcious. Things seemed to slow, as Trey ran towards her and Sean and a bunch of other kids followed. Sean ran to Emma, scared. It seemed like he was waltzing, because everything was in slow motion, and seconds became 5 times longer. Trey and Sean picked her up. Someone had called the ambulance, but it seemed as if the paramedics didn't arrive to help Emma until hours after, though it was really 20 minutes or so.

Trey and Sean sat in the emergancy waiting room.

"How do you know Emma?" Trey asked quietly, trying to make at least small talk.

"School. Old girlfriend." Sean said, making it obvious that he didn't want to talk to this guy, and he had no intrest of becoming his friend.

"I bumped into her the other day...Asked her to this party, but I wish I didn't at the moment."

Sean looked up, "Look man, I am in no mood for small chat so just shut the fck up. The girl I love is in the hospital, unconcious."

Trey stared at him for a moment, then nodded and sat back in his chair.

Meanwhile…

Hazel curled up in her bed sheets. Her stomach hurt and her body leaked with disgust. Hazel could barely stand the look of herself. She was that sick. "This is all Steven's fault." She said aloud to herself in the silence of her room. Hazel didn't believe that statement anymore than anyone else would. She put herself in that position too many times. Hazel made a few too many mistakes with Steven. She didn't know how to explain herself. It was just….a mistake.

Hazel was interrupted by the ringing of her telephone. She wanted to ignore it, certain that it was Steven calling to try to convince her to give him another chance. The ringing stopped and started again moments later. Again she ignored it. She didn't want to talk to anybody, and she knew that Steven would be the one calling; the last thing she wanted now was to hear his voice. The ringing stopped again, and started again only moments later.

Hazel picked up her phone and snatched it out of the wall unit. She threw it across her bedroom floor in a fit of anger. Hazel curled back under her sheets, trying her hardest to avoid anybody. She just wanted to be alone, and be able to cry softly without interruption. Her insides cramped with agony and guilt. All she could do was cry, and hope that it would make her feel better.

Meanwhile...

Emma's parents had arrived shortly after Trey and Sean did.

A couple hours later, the doctor that was treating Emma walked out, "She has a severe concussion, and is unconcious. She also has alcohol poisening." He said.

Trey and Sean stared at him for a moment, "Whoa..." They both said.

"She should be okay, but she'll have to stay the night. She should wake up shortly, and you guys can go see her if you are still her, but you will have to make it brief."

After about an hour, the doctor walked out again, "She's awake. One at a time."

After Spike and Snake went in Sean looked at Trey, "Go ahead."

Trey nodded, "Thanks." He stood up and walked into Emma's room. "Hey Em. How are you doing?"

Em looked up, "Hi, Trey. I'm okay..."

"That's good...I was really worried about you, Em. Really, really worried."

Emma smiled, "I'll be fine, don't worry."

Trey nodded and kissed her lightly on the forehead.

"What happened?" Emma asked.

"You got really drunk, then walked outside and fell. The doctors say you have alcohol poisening and a concussion."

"No wonder why my head hurts so bad."

Trey nodded, "Look, there's other people that want to see you, so, I'll be back later."

Meanwhile...

Ellie put her head on Alex's lap and looked up at her. She smiled a bit. Alex had noticed she'd been doing that more and more often, lately. That made her feel pretty good about everything, and from this moment on, she knew that that smile would be the one that she'd love to love.

"What happens when we go to school? I mean, do we want to go public?" inquired Alex. She hadn't meant to say it so suddenly, ruin a good thing, but something inside her had gushed it out and she could help but think that something was her heart.

"School...Why are people at school so concerned about other people's lives?!" Ellie began getting a slight bit louder with every word. But she wasn't yelling --

Yet.

"I mean, would Sean say something to people? He doesn't seem that type, but I have a girlfriend, he doesn't" -- that seemed a little funny coming out of Ellie's mouth -- "and I'm kinda concerned. What if he gets upset? Sean does some pretty whcked out things when he gets upset!" Ellie's eyes no longer felt soft, but hard and concerned. The expression on his face was a worried one: eyebrows stitched together, near-frowning, nose bunched (?) up. It was an expression you could tell was bound to lead to explosion.

"Ellie, I asked a simple question," stated Alex.

Ellie sat up. "Everything is simple to you, isn't it? We have got bigger problems here." This seemed very un-Ellie-esque. Something wasn't right about this. She was staging the whole thing. An act.

Alex hadn't figured that out, yet.

"Think about some things will ya, Lexx? Wow" -- she kicked her feet off the sofa and stood -- "maybe you're not as smart as I thought you were." That's when it hit Alex. This can't be her; it's a show; she's covering up. It all bombarded her.

Now she only needed to know _why...?_

Ellie grabbed her jacket. "Call ya tomorrow." She ran out the house in a slightly happy rage and jealousy. Something was eating at her and it was something that only she could know, and no one else...

Meanwhile...

Hours went by which felt like days to Hazel. She wished it were, maybe then, Jimmy would be on his way back and it would give her a reason to smile. However, something was coming to give Hazel a smile. A knock at the door downstairs came and Mrs. Aden went to answer it. "Oh hi guys! Hazel is upstairs, I'll let her know that you're here." Mrs. Aden stated. She aimlessly walked up the stairs and reached Hazel's door. It was locked, so Mrs. Aden knocked. "Hazel honey, some of your friends are here." Mrs. Aden stated. Hazel didn't reply. She really didn't want to see anybody, and if it was who she thought it was, she really didn't want to see them. "Honey?" Mrs. Aden asked. She didn't notice that Hazel's two friends had followed her upstairs.

"Is she here?" the female friend asked Mrs. Aden.

"Yes, I'm here." Hazel replied from inside the room.

"Hazel is everything alright?" Mrs. Aden asked, with her voice growing concern. Loud footsteps were made towards the door, it unlocked and swung open. A completely rejuvenated Hazel stood in front of the door. There was no evidence that she had been crying, or that she had been hurt. Hazel was putting on a front.

"Yeah, everything's great." Hazel lied. And she finally laid eyes on the two friends who had come to see her. It was Marrissa, and Steven like she had suspected, but it was Paige and Marco. "Hey guys!!" Hazel cheered.

Paige greeted her friend with a hug, realizing over half the summer had gone by and she rarely saw her. "Hey hun, you busy?" Paige asked.

"No, not really." Hazel replied.

"Well, great, we're going bowling if you want to come" Marco suggested. Hazel smiled gleefully, and headed out with her friends. Maybe this would be the one day she would go out and not come back regretting it. At least, she hoped so. The three headed out towards the bowling alleys. They talked and laughed all the way there about the funny things that happened to them during the summer.

"So...how's your summer been Haze?" Marco asked.

"I never thought I'd say this, but...I wish I were in school." Hazel replied. Paige and Marco laughed not knowing the severity of Hazel's statement. They reached the bowling alley, grabbed their shoes and a lane, and started up a game. The three bowled four games. Hazel had won 2 of them, and Marco won the other two. Paige was a terrible bowler, but she had fun doing it. Hazel was thrilled to be hanging out with her friends again. She shouldn't have ignored them during the summer. Now she wishes she hadn't. Maybe she would've had more fun instead of spinning days upset and frightened. The three of them were set to start a new game when someone called out to the group.

"Hey Hazel!" the voice shouted from the shoe counter. Hazel turned around and laid eyes on the person who called her name. She turned back around quickly. The smile faded on her face, and she expressed a look of anger and frustration. He was the last person she wanted to see.

"Friend of yours hun?" Paige asked.

"Yeah I know him" Hazel quietly replied.

"He's cute." Paige stated.

"Yeah..." Hazel said silently as she walked over towards Steven. "What are you doing here?" Hazel asked harshly.

"I came to bowl, but it's good to see you. I've been trying to call you." Steven started.

"Steven, I don't want to talk to you. I don't want to have anything to do with you." Hazel stated. She snarled and started to walk away.

"Why are you so upset?! It's not like we were dating or anything!" Steven shouted. Hazel wasn't sure if Paige and Marco heard him, but at this moment she didn't care. She was fuming with anger.

"You lied to me, you bastard! Used me, even when you knew I had a boyfriend! And then, I catch you with another guy and you act like it's no big deal!" Hazel yelled.

"Haz.."

"No, Steven. Just go away. I don't want to see you." Hazel replied and walked away. Steven stood there for a moment, but heeded to Hazel's request, and left. When Hazel returned to her lane, she sat down and crossed her arms over her chest. She was heated and you could tell by the look on her face. She still wasn't sure if Paige and Marco heard them until Paige broke the silence.

"Ok...details." Paige demanded. Guess they heard.

Meanwhile...

Emma nodded slowly, not knowing who would want to see her, Manny didn't even know about this entire thing, she had gone off to make out with some guy at his house during the party...Probably Craig or something.

Trey left, "Alright, she knows someone is coming, but I didn't tell her it was you..." He said to Sean. He felt rather stupid when he didn't see him there. Sean had left. Where? He didn't know.

After about twenty minutes of waiting, Emma slowly drifted off to a light, peaceful sleep.

Ten minutes after that, Sean ran towards the hospital, as fast as he could while being careful of the vase in his hands. He finally got there and walked to Emma's room. He smoothed off his pants quickly and waited to catch his breath. He walked inside. Emma's eyes were still closed, and her face was tilted towards the door. Sean slowly and carefully set the vase on the table, then, with a piece of paper and a pen that he found in the room, wrote a small note on it, not wanting to wake the sleeping girl. He signed it, folded it clumsily in half, then stood from his kneeling position. He brushed his fingers against her slightly red, soft cheek, thoughts of how much he loved her invading his body, and making Sean weak. His knees nearly buckled and his eyes filled with tears, thinking of how the girl wasn't doing well, and how much he cared for her. He sighed, "She has Trey now..." He thought aloud. He brushed her cheek once more and stared at her for a moment, his fingers resting lightly on her cheek. Bending over, he touched his lips to her forehead and left the room. It was very late, and he left, and went home.

When Emma woke, about 9:00 according to the clock on the wall, she turned and saw white lillies and red roses sitting in a clear vase. Her face immediatly lit up and a huge smile sprung onto her face.

"They are from Sean." Spike and Snake said at the same time.

Em, looked up, startled, "Really?"

They nodded.

Emma spotted the note that was with the flowers and took it.

_Em, _

I know that you may hate me, and you may not feel for me at all, but I do know one thing. I love you, and seeing you once I got back from Wasega beach only intensified my feelings. I have been thinking of you constantly since the accident. Please, forgive me. And, maybe, will you go out with me?

-Sean

Emma read and reread the note tons of times, smiling.

Meanwhile...

Ellie decided to not go back to the home that she once shared with Sean. It pained her all too much to be in that house anymore. But what hurt her most was the part about him probably never coming back.

She wanted to call him, so she whistled for a cab to drive her to her old home. No one had bought it for the simple fact that no one had put it up for sale. Ellie figured her mother was planning on staying there once she got out of the rehabilitaion center. She sighed, remembering the fire, what had helped nudge along all of this.

When she finally did pull up to the house, it seemed brand new. Sparkling, dazzling even on the outside. Ellie got worried that it meant someone was cleaning up the house to try and sell it or something. And that was the last thing she intended on letting happen. She thought she'd never in a illion and one years even consider saying this, but this house held her heart, and she felt really safe there. No matter what.

Ellie chunked a wad a cash at the taxi driver and hurried up to the door, ringing the doorbell ferociously, vigerously (spell?), not letting up until someone answered the door.

A young, African-American woman answered the phone. This woman obviously had class, common sense, and a college degree. "Hello, how may I help you?" the woman asked in a very proper tone.

Ellie gulped nervously twice and tried hard to not keep her mouth open. After starring into oblivion for what seemed hours, Ellie snapped back to reality and her head whipped from side to side tiwce.

"Uh" -- she held out her hand -- "Ellinore Nash. This used to be my house. You wouldn't happen to occupy it by any chance would you?"

Meanwhile...

After explaining and re-explaining the details of her summer to Marco and Paige, their jaws were still dropped in amazement, confusion, and most of all, anger. "I can't believe you did that to Jimmy." Marco stated.

"I know, and I've told Jimmy and he's alright now. Everything is fine." Hazel answered convincingly.

"Sorry hun, but I find that hard to believe." Paige stated

"Why?"

"Well, c'mon, what guy is really going to forgive you for cheating on them?" Paige asked.

"Jimmy's a great guy, Paige! I apologized, and he accepted it. We're past it now." Hazel exclaimed.

"I just want to know why." Marco interjected. "Why cheat on Jimmy? He's smart, attractive, charming. What does that guy have that Jimmy doesn't? Why cheat on him?" Marco asked.

"I don't know" Hazel replied softly.

"I think I do. Is it because he has one thing that Jimmy doesn't have anymore? The ability to walk." Paige answered her own question.

"That's not fair Paige!" Hazel shouted.

"If the shoe fits darling." Paige responded. Hazel forcefully grabbed her stuff and stormed out of the Bowling Alley. Upset and frustrated, she decided to walk home and clear her head. She knew she shouldn't have come out today. All she did was end up angry again. Now her friends probably hated her for what she did to Jimmy, but Hazel had to think if maybe Paige was right about what she had said; if maybe the reason she did cheat on Jimmy was the fact that he couldn't walk anymore. Hazel hated to think like that. She still considered Jimmy to be the same person he was before, but in the back of her mind, that did affect her. Jimmy in a wheelchair does get to her sometimes. Hazel couldn't even stand thinking the way she was. She started to run; run home, run away, run anywhere. Just so she could get away from her own thoughts.

_I'll be just fine, pretending I'm not. I'm far from lonely, and it's all that I've got._

Meanwhile...

Sean roamed around outside, not going to any particular place. He just walked, and found himself in front of Emma's house. He knew she wasn't home, and that there was no point to being at her house. What he didn't know, was why he was there. But, nonetheless, he didn't move. Just stared at the house. He figured the reason why he was here was because he wanted to see Emma, and without thinking about it, Sean ran towards the hospital...

Emma sat in her room, watching tv, though she wasn't paying attention to Emril cook some disgusting food...That had something to do with snails and other unidentifyable foods...If you could even _call_ them foods. Instead, she was thinking of Sean...

Sean ran, panting, into the hospital, about 45 minutes later, "C-an...Can I," He paused, taking a breath, "See E-Emma Nel-Nelson?"

The nurse nodded, "Yes. Right down the hall."

Like the night before, Sean walked to Emma's room, and caught his breath before walking in. When he did walk in, Emma didn't notice. He stared at her for a moment, watching her breathing, and watching her blink. Everything seemed...Perfect, in that moment. She was so beautiful, and Sean's heart seemed to lift and just fly away.

Emma looked over, she stared at Sean for a moment, speechless and surprised he was there.

Meanwhile...

Even the woman's laugh was perposterously proper. "Oh, no, I'm sorry dear. I'm a real estate agent. There was a call from a Mrs. Nash giving me permission to sell this house. I'd been pestering her about the ordeal. I guess she gave in, already."

Ellie tried to swallow it, but that was not news she she wanted to hear at all. She shook her head. "No, you made a mistake. This can't be the right house," Ellie commented defensively.

"You must be the daughter. Look," the woman's voice relented to a more serious tone, "I'm sorry. Wow, this doesn't usually happen, but, we can't let you stay here."

"No, this is the wrong house," Ellie persisted.

"I'm sorry. Now go home."

"This is my house, now get the hell out!" Ellie hadn't meant to blow up like that, but she didn't feel like playing anymore. She could tell the woman was very taken aback.

"Fine. Have it your way. But I'll be back, alright?"

Ellie smiled sarcastically. "May I get your name?"

"Russel, Y'van." It was clear her response was cleary restrained, but nonetheless, Ellie knew that really was her real name.

"Bye, Ms. Russel."

Y'van rustled on her small brown jacket and walked out frustratedly. Ellie watched her drive away in her car, hurried in, and rushed into locking the front door.

She rested her back against the door and stared at everything. Though, things really did look new, nothing had been moved in any way and Ellie could tell verything was still the same. She searched for the phone.

Meanwhile...

Hazel made it home and sat down on the front steps of her porch. Now her friends hated her, no doubt Steven hated her, but Jimmy was the only one who still loved her as much as she hoped. Although right now, Hazel's doubts about Jimmy seemed to become more fluent in her mind. "How can Jimmy get mad at me? It's not like we could ever do anything with him like this anyway." Hazel asked herself aloud. She hated that that came out of her mouth, but she couldn't take it back now. Hazel stood up from the porch, and walked away from her house. She walked in a direction that she thought she'd never walk in again. She headed towards Steven's house. She reached the townhome and cautiously walked up to the door. This time, Hazel knocked first.

Steven came to the door moments later, "Hazel!" he exclaimed, "Why are you here? I thought you didn't want to see me anymore?" Steven asked suspiciously.

"I was wrong. I think I overreacted a bit. Can we talk?" Hazel suggested.

"Yeah, sure. Come in." Steven offered letting Hazel scoot inside the house beside him. Steven shut the door behind her as he and Hazel sat down again...to talk.

Meanwhile...

Emma smiled, "What are you doing here?"

"I came to see you." Sean said simply, a smile pasted on his face.

Emma's smile hadn't dissapeared either. She didn't know what to say though. The flowers sat on the table next to her bed, brightened with joy.

Sean finally caught his breath completely, "Did you like the flowers?"

Emma nodded, "Definitely...Come-on, you can sit down," She said, guestering to the chair next to her bed.

"I was really worried about you," Sean stated as he sat down in the chair.

She smiled wider, obviously flattered, "I missed you."

He nodded, "I missed you too...Em, look, I'm sorry. I love you, will you, please, please, take me back?"

Meanwhile...

"So..." Steven started feeling somewhat unusual about the situation. Hazel sat at the far left of the couch in the living room. Steven sat in the middle a few inches away from Hazel.

"I need to ask you a question." Hazel started, "Do you think I'm selfish?" Hazel finished.

"I think you know what you want, and you deserve to have it." Steven replied. Hazel turned to face him, and looked sternly into his dark captivating eyes. Something rocked in her, she wanted to turn away, ahving satisfied her curiousity, but she couldn't. She moved in closer towards Steven, and gave him a hug.

"Thanks, I needed to know that." Hazel replied.

"Hazel..." Steven started, "Do you really hate me?" Steven asked. Hazel shook her head 'no', and kissed Steven on the lips for confirmation. Steven held on to Hazel's hips, and pulled her down on top of him. The kissing continued for several minutes until Steven's phone rang. Steven leaped up hastily and answered the phone at the end of the couch. "Hello?"

"Steven, Steven! Have you seen Hazel?!" a frightened Mrs. Aden asked.

"Yeah, she's right here." Steven said calmly as he handed the phone to Hazel, "It's your mom, she sounds upset."

Hazel grabbed the phone quickly, "Mom! What's going on?" she asked.

"Hazel! Come home right now!! It's Jimmy!" Mrs. Aden said as she her voice broke.

"Don't worry mom, I'm on my way." Hazel said hurridly. She headed out to Steven's door.

"Whoa, what's going on?" Steven asked. Hazel turned from the door with tears running down her cheeks. "Hazel...what's wrong?" Steven asked. Hazel didn't respond. She held her head down in shame of herself. She was out cheating on her boyfriend, and now he's in trouble. Hazel lifted up her head and ran out the door. On her way to her house to see what was happening with her boyfriend and her family. If Jimmy was hurt, she'd never forgive herself.

Meanwhile...

Ellie found the phone on the kitchen wall and began to dial a number. It took her a while to work up the nerve, but eventually, she got herself to hold enough audacity to call after what ahd happened and how they broke up.

A knot was forming in the middle of ELlie's throat that made her want to cry. but she swallowed it and pressed Talk, holding the phone to her ear.

"Hello?" a voice bellowed in the speaker of the receiver.

Ellie seemed a bit shocked. "Sean?"

A laugh was released from the other side. "Sorry, I'm Kedrick. You've got the wrong number."

She forced a giggle. "Sorry, my mistake." Ellie hung up and cursed under her breath. Had it really been that hard to dial Sean's number? Then she remembered that the two fives in the number she dialed were supposed to be a two and an eight. "No, I'm not an idiot at all..."

Ellie redialed the right number this time and had to endure two full rings...while on the third, someone finally picked up...

Meanwhile...

Sean and Emma had talked for quite a while, but Sean left after about 2 hours, when the nurse nearly kicked him out. Before he left, he hugged Emma, and gave her a small kiss on the cheek, and said feel better, then left.

He walked home slowly, but when he got to his house and started to get his keys from his pocket, he heard the phone ring. He quickly opened the door and ran inside and answered the phone.

"Hello?"

Meanwhile...

Hazel ran harder and harder, she was in a furious rush to get home. What could possibly be going on with Jimmy? she asked herself. Her hearst skipped beats, as she continued to power towards her house. She could see the house a distance away, and also spotted a black Jaguar parked in front. Hazel immediately noticed whose car it was. It was Mr. Brooks' car. Hazel slowly headed in the direction of her house. Fear was jumping up and down in her stomach. She was getting choked up already. She had that same feeling she had when she heard the news about Jimmy being shot. "Please, just let him be alright." Hazel said aloud to herself, tears already streaming down her cheeks, as she neared the door. "Please...just let him be alright." she pleaded silently as she finally reached her doorstep. She leaned for the doorknob, but before she could turn it, it opened.

"Hazel! I'm glad you're here." Mr. Brooks greeted. Hazel looked up at him with deep melancholy in her eyes. "Hazel, are you that excited?" Mr. Brooks asked. Hazel's expression changed from melancholy to confusion of Mr. Brooks' question. He ushered her inside. "I think you'll be happy." he whispered softly to her. By the time Hazel was inside her house, she saw her parents sitting in the living room on their long lounge couch, smiling. Her mother still had tears in her eyes.

"Wha-What's going on?" Hazel muttered out. Mr. and Mrs. Aden turned to face her still gleaming. Hazel looked at them in confusion until she saw another familiar face. He turned around from the chair which back faced the door, and looked at Hazel. He smiled happily. Hazel could barely get the words out. "Ji...Ji..."

"That's right. I'm back Haze." Jimmy said. Hazel flew over to Jimmy, and kissed him joyously, and hugged him tightly.

"I missed you" Hazel said.

"I missed you too. But there's another surprise I have for you." Jimmy whispered to an emotional Hazel who had knelt down next to the chair.

"What?" Hazel asked intently. Jimmy didn't reply, he just showed her. Jimmy stood up, and walked towards Hazel. Jimmy could walk again. Hazel covered her mouth in excitement. She was in tearful happiness as Jimmy walked towards her and held her snugly in his arms.

"I'm back for good." Jimmy whispered.

"Hazel, do you and James want to go out, and have some time alone?" Mr. Aden asked his daughter.

Hazel responded by nodding her head. Jimmy took Hazel by the hand, and they both walked outside. "Sorry, I'm just so excited. I can't believe this!" Hazel said once the two were alone out on the front steps.

"I know, it's incredible." Jimmy said.

"How did this happen?" Hazel asked.

"There's plenty of time to explain. Let's go somewhere first. You wanna go to the Dot?" Jimmy suggested.

"With you? More than anything." Hazel replied. The two held hands as they slowly walked off together happily again with each other. Although Hazel was happy, she hated keeping secrets. So as much as she hated the thought of it, she knew that deep down, she had to tell Jimmy what happened this summer. She cared too much for Jimmy to lie to him, and keep it from him. She knew that she'd harbor animosity towards herself for a long time if she didn't tell him. Or even worst, if he heard it from someone else. So Hazel had no choice, she had to tell him. Even though at that moment, it was the last thing she ever wanted to do.

Meanwhile...

Ellie jumped at the voice. He sounded different than before. Had it really been that long? No...Right?

"S-S-Sean!" She shook her head. "Sean, you there?"

"Yeah, that's me...Is this Ellie?"

From her failed attempts to steady it, Ellie's voice became increasingly shaky. She cleated her throat. "Yeah" -- and smiled -- "Sean...hey..."

"Yeah? Why are you calling? Is something wrong?"

"Actually, I just miss you Sean...a lot.." The words had slipped out of Ellie's mouth like water being spewed from a fountain, but nonetheless, when she heard them, she hadn't regreted them.

Sean swallowed hard, "Oh..." He didn't know what to say. He did care about her, too, but he loved Emma, "I thought you and Alex..." He said, trying to get her to back off, not wanting to end any chance with Emma that he had.

"I-I know...Sean...I know." Ellie sighed. How could she put this into words? It would be hard, that's all she knew. "Sean, please, jsut talk to me. I want you back..."

At this point she wasn't exactly sure how she felt, but something somewhere inside her told her this was what she wanted..

Sean didn't know what to say. He might end up dating Emma now, and he couldn't screw that up. He missed Ellie though, too. But it was time to make a decision. He sighed, "El--"

BEEEEEEEP

Sean sighed, "Hold on, other line." Sean flashed over, "Hello?"

"Hey, you." Emma said on the other line.

"Hey, Em." He smiled, just thinking about her.

"Look, about what you asked me earlier...My answer is yes."

Sean smiled, "Great. Well, I have to go, I'm talking to...Jay...On the other line."

"Alright."

"I-I-I love you."

Emma grinned, "I love you, too." She hung up and Sean flashed back over.

"Back..."

"Who was it?" Ellie asked trying to avoid the subject at hand. SHe hung her head in shame, but furthermore at her inability to say two words to Sean without tripping all over herself.

"Umm...Jay..." Sean said nervously.

Ellie smiled beneathe herself. "Oh..." She sighed. "Sean, let me know something...Please? I mean, we've been through anything and everything. I'm sorry about what I did -- I am! -- but that doesn't mean I don't still love you...Sean..."

"Ellie...I'm going to be honest with you. That was Emma. I'm...I'm dating her." He sighed, "I'm sorry."

Ellie's eyesbrows stitched. She couldn't say anything. Instead she just hung up and held the phone in her hand, not letting it out of her stronghold. What else could be more horrible? You try to get back the one person you think you love and he's dating someone you don't care for, never have.

"Sean!!"

Sean sighed, and hung up as well. He walked into his bedroom, confused and feeling horrible.

Meanwhile...

Jimmy and Hazel finally reached the dot, strolling in hand in hand, and showing everyone his miraculous recovery. Spinner stood behind the counter in amazement as he watched Jimmy walk, literally walk, into the dot. "Ji...Jimmy?" Spinner started. Jimmy turned to face him, and smiled. Spinner dove from behind the counter and ran to Jimmy, when he neared him, he snatched him up and hugged him tiightly. Laughing in the process. "Jim, man, you're back!" Spinner cheered.

"Yeah, man, I'm back." Jimmy said once Spinner put him back on the ground. The two shook hands, and Jimmy walked off with Hazel. They sat down in a far off booth seat to talk.

"He seems real happy to see you." Hazel informed Jimmy.

"Yeah, I guess I should thank him." Jimmy said.

"Why?" Hazel asked.

"Well, the camp that my dad sent me to, was a rehab camp, and we spent all that time working on getting the feeling back into my legs. It was torture, but everyday, all I would think about was how Spinner put me here. How it was him that told Rick that I set him up. Almost as if it were Spinner who pulled the trigger and shot me in the back." Jimmy stopped. Hazel grew slightly uncomfortable at how morbid the conversation was going. "Because of that, I kept going. I kept striving to get back to where I was before. I wanted to show everybody, especially Spinner, that I could never be beaten, not on the court, or by a bullet." Jimmy finished. Hazel smiled happily.

"I'm proud of you." Hazel stated.

"Thanks Haze, but that's not all. I wouldn't have been able to get back to where I was at if it weren't for you." Jimmy started.

"What do you mean?" asked Hazel.

"Everyday I was there I was wondering about how me being in a wheelchair was an inconvience to you. How much you deserved to be with someone who was fully capable."

"Jimmy..." Hazel interrupted as she put her hand on top of his. "I love you. That's all that matters." Hazel said.

"Yeah, I thought so too. Until you told me about you kissing some guy. That really threw me over the edge. I almost thought I'd die when you said that. I almost gave up hope, but curiousity wants me to know, what happened with that guy?" Jimmy asked.

"Ummm..." Hazel started. She swallowed a heavy deep breath, and rested her head down. Her heart was pounding in her ear, she could barely hear herself think, but she knew without doubt that she had to tell Jimmy about this. It was only fair. "Well, at first..."

Meanwhile...

Ellie hurled the phone in the air. Once is hit the opposite wall, it was a goner. It shattered the the pieces fell everywhere.

She screamed and doen the hall to her bedroom. Relief overcame her when she felt her own bed again, but didn't help much the fact that she was crying. And she just stayed there, for hours...crying herself to sleep.

Alex couldn't stand the way things went with Ellie yesterday, and had thoughts of guilt. OK, so she had snapped on her, but for what reason would Ellie do that? None Alex could think of!

She sat up on the couch and looked over at the clock in the kitchen. 6:48. Hm, maybe she'd pick up. Alex had stayed up all night due to the fight, maybe Ellie couldn't've slept either.

Alex shrugged, deciding to give it a shot. Nothing to lose, then, huh? She sighed and picked up the phone.

Ellie's cell phone rang a couple of times on the coffee table, but didn't bother with answering it. But she had to at least look at the caller ID so she could call back later: Lexxi. When she saw the screen, Ellie instantaneously jumped for the phone. Hopefully she could catch it before Alex hung up.

Alex hung up. She sighed and laid back down on the couch. "Another day..another defeat. Hell, I can't get used to this." She sighed again and turned on the TV.

Meanwhile...

Sean stared at the phone in his hands. Half of him wanted to call Ellie back. So he did. He dialed the number, but before Ellie picked up, Sean hung up the phone, dicovering he had no idea what to say. He put the phone on the hook, not wanted her to call back. He sighed and went to his room, then laid on his bed. Who was he supposed to pick? Who did he love? Ellie? Emma? Both of them had someone else they could see. Both of them also wanted him. "If only this was easier." Sean said aloud. In moments, he fell asleep.

Meanwhile...

"Are you mad?" Hazel asked softly with tears in her eyes, and her voice breaking.

"Yeah..." Jimmy replied with his eyes focused on the table rather than Hazel.

"Do you want to break up with me?" Hazel asked even though asking the question hurt her stomach, and she was begging Jimmy to say 'no'.

"No..." Jimmy replied. Hazel sighed heavily, and dropped her head down in relief. She reached for Jimmy's hand, but he pulled it away and folded his hands together. He sat sternly in front of Hazel, almost crying, but maintaining a frustrated demeanor. "Just answer me why Haze. Why? What did...or didn't I do?" Jimmy pleaded.

"I don't know...I guess I just missed you, and..." her voice trailed off.

"You missed me, so you cheat on me?" Jimmy followed up.

"No, that's not it!" Hazel said, her voice growing angry.

"Then what the hell was it Hazel?!" Jimmy said with his voice increasing pitch. Hazel put her head down, afraid to respond to Jimmy. She started to tear up again. Jimmy calmed down, and reached out for Hazel's hand. He held it in his, took in a deep breath, and spoke. "Hazel, I'm sorry. I should've been here, and maybe this would've never happened." Jimmy responded.

Hazel sniffled twice before she answered, "Yes, it would've." Jimmy was taken aback by what Hazel had said.

"What?"

"I know why I did what I did. It was because...I wasn't sure how I would be able to deal with this relationship any longer if you were still in a wheelchair." Hazel forced out. Jimmy's eyes widened, his stomach twisted and gurgled from Hazel's words. "I know that's wrong, and I feel really really terrible about it." Hazel finished. Jimmy was still in shock, he didn't want to respond, and he wasn't sure if he could. "Jimmy...I'm sorry." Hazel stated, with her voice breaking in two. She reached for Jimmy's hand, and he gracefully accepted it. "I'm sorry..." Hazel whispered as her voice trailed off. Jimmy scooted next to her and hugged her closely.

"All is forgived. All is forgotten." Jimmy said to Hazel. He kissed her on the forehead, and that was that.

"Hazel, what the hell?!!"

Meanwhile...

Litteraly jumping at the oppurtunity to get a hold of Alex, Ellie reached for the phone, dialing her number, which she memorized.  
Ellie's heart stopped as the phone rang. They were the five longest seconds in the world. As if all ocean waves had stopped crashing, all horns stopped blaring, all yalls were put to a hault, screeches and scratches all waited...waited for that moment when someone would answer. A knot began to form in her throat. It hurt. Ellie attmempted to swallow it, but that wasn't enough to push it down. Then, finally, a voice intercepted Ellie's nervousness and all the world breathed deeply as it began again.

"Hello, Elle?"

Ellie sighed. "Lexx, I'm sorry. So sorry. I didn't mean to do that--"

"Why did you?" ALex asked not letting her finish. Somewhere in between the time Ellie had stormed out of the house to the time that Alex had called her back, she still couldn't find out why Ellie had done that. The reason behind the actions.

Ellie gulped. She was hoping Alex wouldn't ask her that, so instead, she offered up a vague answer. "I was confused." It wasn't a lie..it wasn't the truth. It wasn't even a little bit of both. It was just...it.

"Oh, OK," Alex answered even though she knew it was against her better judgement to end it there. "Look, I miss you, Elle. Come by sometime, OK?"

"OK."

"Bye..."

Ellie swallowed, finally getting the knot in her throat to sink. "Bye...Maybe I'll come over later today."

Alex smlied a little bit. "Th-that'll be..great...just great." Her smile broadened when Ellie said bye and hung up the phone. But on the other end, Ellie wasn't smiling so bright. She still had feelings of remorse, about how things went with Sean. Truth be told, she missed him a lot and maybe Alex was just a void (?) to fill that hole, that emptiness that had been pushed to the back of her mind. She squirmed. Something would have to be done...either she'd have to find a way to get over Sean if she couldn't win him back, or learn to like Alex more than she already did. Whatever it was, Ellie knew this was not going to be easy.

Meanwhile...

Hazel dried her tears, and tried not to look up, for she already recognized the voice that had called her, and she knew that this was something she wasn't going to appreciate. Half of the dot fell silent after hearing him yell. All of them focused their attention on Hazel and Jimmy. The guy who called out Hazel's name moved closer to the booth that Haze and Jimmy sat at. He leaned in, completely ignoring that Jimmy was there. "Why are you acting like this?" he softly whispered.

"Just...leave." Hazel harshly whispered back.

"I don't get it with you. One minute you're kissing me, and the next you're sitting here with this guy." He said.

"Hey!" Jimmy finally spoke up, "Look dude, you're really not welcome here, so it's better that you just leave." Jimmy responded.

"Jimmy..." Hazel started.

"Oh...this is Jimmy!" Steven responded with his eyes glowing at the revelation. "I've heard a lot about you." Steven said with a smirk. Jimmy didn't answer, he was frustrated already, and seeing this guy didn't help at all. Jimmy stood up and got in Steven's face.

"Steve, I suggest you leave now...before I stick my foot in your ass!" Jimmy shouted. Spinner finally came over to break up the two.

"Hey, hey, you have to leave now." Spinner said directed towards Steven.

Steven ignored them both and faced Hazel who was now standing behind Jimmy holding his arm. "Hazel..." he started.

"Go away Steven. Just go away." Hazel interrupted. Steven's face grew angry, he couldn't hold it in any longer. He pushed Spinner to the side, and went to tackle Jimmy. The two fell back onto the booth, and after a small tussle, Steven found himself on top of Jimmy. He went to tag him in the face, but Jimmy moved his head, tagged Steven in the ribs, and made it to his feet. When Steven stood up, his face met Jimmy's fist, which sent him back into a nearby table. He crashed onto the table and shattered it into pieces. The crowd ooohed and aaahed at the scene that played before them, as Spinner and several other dot members came and grabbed Steven off the ground, and took him outside.

Before they reached the door, Steven had some more words to say, "I'ma get you!! I'ma get you both!!" he shouted. Jimmy still didn't respond, he just held onto Hazel who had started crying again, and kissed her on her head.

"I'm so sorry Jimmy. I'm so sorry." Hazel said inbetween sobs.

Jimmy hugged her tighter and whispered in her ear, "All is forgiven, all is forgotten."

Meanwhile...

Emma sat in the hospital room, waiting for the nurse to come get her so she could go back home. She thought of Sean, and how happy she was that he was back and with her.

Sean was still at home. His mind flip flopped from Emma to Ellie, still not knowing which girl he liked more. He had a strong feeling it was Emma. But Ellie's phone call weakened that feeling.

The nurse came into the room and let Emma get dressed and get her things, then Spike and Snake drove her back home. She was grounded, for two days, and had to stay inside the entire time. A lock was put on her window.

About two days passed, and Trey, Manny, Toby and JT had visited Emma multiple times. But there wasn't a sign of Sean.

Sean had finally found out who it was he loved.

Meanwhile...

_Stress..._ Ellie sat on the couch with her forehead in her hand. This was doing nothing but causing her stress. Okay, so her hair was falling out and bags weren't drooping from her eyes, but she did feel it.

She sighed.

"So what do I do?" she asked herself, phone sat right back on the caffee table. Ellie sighed again and placed it on the receiver when she heard the doorbell. "What do you want?" she asked after answering the door.

"To sell this house," the young African American woman told Ellie. She immediately recognized her; the red-orange hair, the black-n-red clothes, the leather boots. Oh yeah, how could you forget such an image?

"I'm not letting you." Ellie shut the door hastily in an attempt to end the conversation. Luckiy, it worked and after locking the door and holding her back to it for about a minute or two, there was complete and total silence beyond the border.

She sighed.

_Stress..._

_"Whatever tomorrow brings, I'll be there...with open arms and open eyes, yeah." -- Incubus 'Drive' Make Yourself _

Meanwhile...

Hazel and Jimmy had left the dot, and were walking towards Hazel's house. The walk was quiet for the most part. Jimmy was more upset than he had ever been. Not only did Hazel continously cheat on him, but he just had to beat up the guy, and now he's been threatened again. He had started to wonder whether it was really worth it or not. The two finally reached Hazel's house. They stood outside of the door. "Look, I'm really sorry about all this. It's all my fault." Hazel stated. Jimmy didn't respond, he just held his head down. Hazel held his head up with her hands and looked into his eyes. "Jimmy, if you can forgive me, I know I'll be fine." Hazel sincerely said.

"I know." Jimmy responded looking up into Hazel's eyes now, "I do forgive you." He finished. He leaned in and gave Hazel a loving hug. He kissed her on her head, and she turned around and went into the house.

"See ya tomorrow?" Hazel asked.

"I'll be here." Jimmy responded. Hazel smiled, and went inside the house, and shut the door behind her. Jimmy walked off. He wanted to go home, but he hadn't seen his other friends yet. He headed in the direction of the Del Rossi household to visit his friend Marco, and catch up on all of the summer events that he missed.

Hazel slid down the door. Right now, she didn't know whether to cry, scream, or laugh. She didn't know what she was filled with: sadness, happiness, or anger, but it was one of them, or maybe all three. But it would be anger that took over. When Hazel thought about Steven and everything he did to her this summer. First by seducing her (although it might've been her fault sometimes), then by revealing his sexual preference. Then it hit her all of a sudden. Why did Steven care so much? It was only weeks ago that she caught him in a tight spot. Hazel laughed to herself. Now she was filled with curiousity. What was wrong with Steven? Was he Bi? A full-fledged homosexual? And if so, why would he care so much about her?

Hazel's curiousity was driving her insane. She stood up from the door, and went to walk out. "Going somewhere honey?" Mr. Aden's voice beckoned from the top of the stairs.

"Umm...yeah, to Paige's house dad. I should be right back." Hazel lied.

"Hazel..." Mr. Aden started, his voice growing concern, "I want you to know that with everything that's gone on, I'm still here if you need to talk." He finished.

Hazel showed a slight smile, "Thanks Dad." And with that, Hazel walked out the door, not really headed towards Paige's house, but Steven's. There were some things she had to know, and things she had to get off her chest.

Meanwhile...

Sean found himself running towards the hospital, yet again, he walked inside, "Em, I love you." He said when he found her room.

Emma, Spike and Snake looked up.

Meanwhile...

Hazel walked casually towards Steven's home. Expecting him to be there. There were a lot of things on her mind about why he did the things he did. Why he acted how he acted. Hazel's mind was racing with a mutltitude of questions that she needed answers for, but once she came across Steven's street. She noticed there was someone else there. It was a girl, who was sitting on the porch with her face in her hands, and her legs in her chest. Hazel slowly walked towards the girl, showing concern and courage as she approached her. "Marrissa?" Hazel asked.

Marissa's head shot up as she laid mascara running eyes on Hazel. Suddenly, her face shifted from sadness to anger. She darted up from the porch and went after Hazel in a fit of rage. "Why didn't you listen?! Why didn't you listen?!" Marissa constantly shouted in Hazel's face as she pushed her back into the car in their driveway.

"Marrissa...I.."

"You're what...You're- You're sorry? Is that it? I don't give a damn about that. You ruined my brothers life!" Marrissa shouted.

"What are you talking about?" Hazel asked out of confusion and frustration. Marrissa was breathing heavily. Her hair was in a total mess, and her mascara had run down her neck from crying and screaming. She felt totallly infuriated, but also powerless, so she went back to the porch and sat down. Hazel stood up from the car in dissappointment at herself. Although she was curious as to what Marrissa was getting at. She figured now wouldn't be the time to ask her about it. Hazel started to walk away.

"He's gonna kill him, y'know?" Marrissa winced out. Hazel turned around to face her. "He's gonna kill him. Steven's gonna kill Jimmy." Marrissa stated hauntingly.

"What are you talking about?" Hazel replied. She walked over towards Marrissa and sat down next to her as Marrissa filled her in on what was happening...or what was soon to happen.

Meanwhile...

Spike chuckled lightly as Emma and Sean turned red. "We will be back." She said, pulling Snake out of the room.

"I love you." Sean said again.

Emma blushed and smiled, "I love you, too."

Sean grinned and kissed her lightly, "You going back home?"

She nodded, "Finally. Plus we have tons of shopping to do to get ready for school." She laughed.

"Well, you should come over tonight."

Emma looked at him, "Alright." She smiled.

When Emma arrived at Sean's house it was about 6:30. He answered the door, "Hey Emma."

"Hi." She smiled.

After a while of watching tv and laughing, Emma slowly fell asleep, her head against Sean's chest and her arm over his stomach. Sean's head rested on hers and his arm was around her shoulder. He stared at her, smiling and took her hand. He would wake her up soon...If he hadn't had fallen asleep as well.

Meanwhile...

Ellie was so banged up at this moment, it felt as if all of the universe was plotting against her. Sean left her and she had no clue whether or not he was even interested in talking to her anymore. She might as well have said "Kiss my ass, Alex," because that's what Alex would say to her once she visited today.

Something big was going to go up that morning and that is all she knew. Once she gained the nerve, she picked up the phone and dialed Alex's number. "Hey, Lexx, what's up?"

"Elle, come over. I think we need to talk..." Alex immediately got straight to the point. She wouldn't be beating around any bushes. "Now." She hung up. The _click!_ startled Ellie and made her jump. She slung a leather jacket over her shoulder and headed out into the warm bitterness of the early summer morning. What was Alex doing awake that early, anyway? ...But then again, what was Ellie doing, also? She decided not to quesion Alex's early arise. Ellie knocked on the door only twice before Alex answered it. She pulled her in and shut it quickly. Ellie heard Alex lock the door.

Yup, something big was going to go up. "What the hell is going on?" Alex asked, walking from the door.

"I was about to asked the same thing," Ellie responded, flustered. What was going on here? Somehow she could place this to a hostage in a murder case. It just made her feel that way -- she was being interrogated.

Alex sighed. "Elle, we both know what's at stake here. Our reputaions -- both of our reputations are on the line. But I need to know..." She paused and took a deep breath, letting it out after just a few seconds. "Ellie are you still in love with Sean?"

Ellie shook her head. Not a real reply -- not intended for one. "Alex, I don't love Sean."

"You seemed pretty sure you did just a few weeks ago."

"Alex--"

"'Alex' nothing, Elle. I care about you and I want us to be together, but that can't happen if your heart's not in it."

Ellie slowly shook her head. "Alex are we even a couple?"

"No! I mean, yes! ...I dunno, Ellie." Alex took a seat near her on the couch and laid a hand on her shoulder. "Something here isn't right. I know you at least have some kind of feelings for me...I knew it the second we..." She couldn't find the strength to say it.

"Kissed, huh, Alex? Is that it? A kiss does it for you?" Ellie inquired part-angrily.

"No, it's how I feel _when_ I kiss you, Ellie! I never felt that way before! You may deny it; you may turn it down, but I know you felt the same way. And still do. You know how I can tell? Because you gave Sean up for me! I knew that the second he walked in on us. That was when! Happy now?" Alex turned away.

Meanwhile...

Hazel settled down to listen to the story that Marrissa had started on. "When Steven came home, I noticed he was beaten up and angry..." Marrissa started. Hazel remembered the fight at the dot clearly. It was well-plastered in her mind as one of the most frightening experiences she has ever had to deal with. "I asked him what was wrong, but he just kept screaming, and throwing stuff, and..." Marrissa's voice cut off. Hazel finally took the time to look behind her. The front door to Steven's house was open. Off the hinges almost, and from what she could see, it was trashed.

"When he finally calmed down, he told me that he got into a fight with Jimmy, and that he was going to hurt him." Marrissa stopped dead right there and stared at a blank-faced Hazel. "I told you to stay away from him Hazel. I told you, it would only get you hurt." Marrissa stated.

Hazel was trembling, but still she forced the words out, "Marrissa...what is wrong with your brother?" Hazel asked.

Marrissa paused for a moment. Staring at the ground, and watching her feet kick the rocks under her. Debating whether or not she should tell Hazel the truth or not. "Hazel...my brother...he's...he's schizophrenic." Marrissa revealed. Hazel fell back trying to take in the news and trying her hardest not to faint. "Schizophrenia is a multiple personality disorder." Marrissa started. "My brother has three people living in his mind. One is Steven, the others have no names, but they do things. Bad things." Marrissa stated while she coldly looked at Hazel. It was starting to make sense. Could it mean that Steven wasn't Steven all those times?

"What kinds of things?" Hazel asked with nervousness settling in her voice.

"Steven was never supposed to come back here Hazel. He was staying up in Manitoba with my parents, but pretty soon he started losing himself. He couldn't remember who he was, or who his parents were. He would try to kill them, or himself because he thought he was lost or kidnapped. Anyone else that he came in contact with, he would try to hurt. He would wander off for days and then come back as if nothing happened. When they find out he was schizophrenic, they couldn't handle it. They freaked and sent him down here to live with me. I was trying to get him some help. I didn't want you to get close to him because I knew he'd get hurt. I knew he might snap and do somethings that he shouldn't do. But it looks like he's going to do so anyway." Marrissa finished.

Hazel was scared, but at the same time she was kind of annoyed, "You're not going to do anything?!" Hazel asked loudly

"What do you want me to do?!" Marrissa shouted back, as she stood up from the porch.

"Find him, talk to him. Stop him from doing whatever it is that he's going to do." Hazel suggested. Marrissa frowned and held her head down. She didn't look nor did she want to look at Hazel right now. She was upset, but even so, she didn't want to think about it. "Your family gave up on him because it was too hard to deal with. You're trying to help him, don't let him make a bad mistake." Hazel stated as she stood up from the porch and walked away. Now, Marrissa wasn't on her mind. Hazel had to find Jimmy...before Steven did.

Meanwhile…

Emma woke up slowly to the sound of a phone. She reached over for the phone on her bedside table but when there was no bedside table and no phone, she opened her eyes quickly and sat up. She looked around at Sean's house, "Crap!"

Sean jolted awake, "Emma, Emma, are you okay?" He sat up and looked at her, peering outside and at the rising sun on the horizon.

"Fine….Who's on the phone?"

Sean picked it up, "Hello? Mrs. Nelson….Hi….Emma?" He looked at Emma, "Are you here?"

Emma took the phone slowly, "Mom? Hey….I'm sorry! I fell asleep. No, no, no, no, no, we didn't do anything of that sort. No, we didn't. But mom that's not fa---" Emma had obviously gotten cut off. She sighed, "Okay, fine. Bye. See you soon." She sighed again and looked at Sean, "She thought we had sex. And now….I have to go clean the entire house for not coming home and 'worrying her'." She rolled her eyes.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be, it's not your fault."

"Alright….Do you want me to walk you home?"

Emma shook her head, "It'd probably be better if you didn't, sorry."

"Alright," Sean kissed her lightly, "I'll call you later."

"Mkay, I love you." She said, after kissing him back.

"I love you, too." Emma stood up and pulled on her coat then left, heading towards her house.

Meanwhile…

Maybe that was just the eye-opener Ellie needed. Maybe that's all she needed to hear. Maybe...just maybe...that was how she felt the entire time, but just never knew it. She needed it to be said, and at the moment, it had been, but there was no use in it, now: Alex was mad at her. What good would it do if that's the reason you knew it all along?  
The whole concept confused her.

"Alex -- "

"What?" Alex snapped over her shoudler.

Ellie didn't really seemed surprised at her reaction. Hell, she would've done the same thing if she was her.  
Ellie sighed a bit short and said, "Alex, I-I want you to know...Well, here." She got up off the couch and went into Alex's kitchen where a few broken glasses blocked a roll of paper towels. She looked up and saw some blank sheets of computer paper sitting out on the bar.

Smiling to herself, she scribbled down something.

When she returned, she stood in front of Alex with the paper outstreched to her face. Alex didn't look up for a while, but when she did, she saw, in blue Sharpie:

Sorry, Alex. I like you and hope you like me, too.  
Will you be my girlfriend?  
Yes  
No  
Check one.

The classic kindergarten move. Alex looked up at Ellie -- plastered smile on her face -- for a while and stood so that they were eye-to-eye. For a few moments, it seemed as if she hadn't caught her joke, but soon enough her lips formed a smile and she grabbed Ellie.

Ellie laughed as she hugged Alex back. "So is that a 'yes' or 'no'?"

Alex smiled to herself. "Yes," she told Ellie, "it's a definite yes."

She hugged tighter and kissed her once she was released from the embrace. She was so happy, so grateful -- Sean hadn't taken one of the few things she cared for in this world. This was her prize, her reward. All she needed, all she wanted.

Meanwhile...

Hazel headed back home to use her phone. She headed inside her house and ran upstairs to her room as quick as she could. Hazel darted for her phone and dialed the first number that came to mind. The phone rang twice before someone finally answered the other line, "Hello?"

"Hello Paige?!" Hazel responded with her voice growing heavy concern.

"Yeah Hazel, what do you want?" Paige answered dejectedly still somewhat upset over Hazel's actions over the summer.

"Have you seen or heard from Jimmy?" Hazel asked ignoring Paige's dismissive attitude.

"Yeah, he called awhile ago. He said he was coming over here and that he had a surprise for us." Paige responded.

Hazel took in a deep breath of relief and happiness, "Paige, I know you probably don't want to see me, but I need to get over there and see Jimmy." Hazel stated quickly

"Why? Did he dump you? He should." Paige stated coldly.

Hazel was growing annoyed, "Look Paige, what I did was wrong, and I can deal with the fact that I made a big mistake, but I don't want or need your crap right now. I need to see Jimmy. It's bigger than that." Hazel stated.

"Whatever...c'mon if you're coming." Paige stated still kind of annoyed. Hazel hung up the phone and headed right back out. She headed down several blocks on feet towards Paige's house. She hadn't been there all summer, so she forgot how far away it was. It was mid-day when she started walking there. By the time she finally got in front of Paige's house, it was a starry night sky. Hazel started walking towards Paige's door before...

"Hazel? What are you doing here?"

Meanwhile…

Ellie and Alex had been there a few hours now and the excitement had winded (or wound?) down. Now they just sat on the couch together...watching TV...probably half-asleep.

Alex took a deep breath. "So what...now?" she asked in between tired breaths. Her head was rested on her hand on top of the arm of the couch. She was slouching and her eyes, half-closed. Bored? That would be a huge understatement.

"I...dunno," Ellie responded in the same manner. She was on the opposite side of the couch, her elbow perched on the other couch's arm and her head rested on her fist. Her eyes were already closed and she was working on being suspended in a dream-like state for some hours.

"Wake up."

The voice wasn't Ellie's. It wasn't Alex's. It wasn't a girl's voice. It was deep, too deep. And came from the front door. Both Alex's and Ellie's eyes sprang open to the voice. It was the last person who they'd expect to be there...after everything.

"Why--?" Alex began, but was cut off.

"Be quiet and listen."

Slowly the voice was placed with a face as his entire body came into view.

Meanwhile…

Emma booked it once she left Sean's house. But before she knew it she was on the ground, saying sorry to whomever she bumped into. When she looked up she realized it was Trey, "Trey... Hi."

Trey smiled, "How have you been, Emma?"

"Alright... Look, I'm sorry for eve--"

"It's okay. Don't be sorry."

She smiled, "Alright. But I have to go; I'm late... Quite a few hours late."

He laughed, "Okay, bye."

Once again Emma was bolting towards her house. She finally arrived and she slammed open the door, but closed it lightly. "Uh... Mom?" She asked, scared and cautious.

Spike and Snake had been sitting in the kitchen, stressfully wondering where their daughter was. Spike looked up, "EMMA?!"

Em sighed, damn she was in big shit. "Yeah..." She slowly walked into the kitchen, "I'm sorry, I fell asleep on the couch at Sean's. So did he. We didn't do anythi--"

"AT SEAN'S?!" Snake stood up, "We are very disappointed in you, Emma."

Emma nodded, "I know, I'm sorry."

Meanwhile...

Fear fell over Hazel as she was scared to face the voice that had called out to her. When she finally did turn around, she laid eyes on the person she was looking for. Jimmy. Hazel ran up to him, and gave him a warm hug. One showing concern and worry. "Didn't I just leave your side a few hours ago? " Jimmy said jokingly.

"Yeah, I just needed to talk to you." Hazel said inbetween a few quick sniffles. "Ummm...can we walk somewhere?" Hazel said. Trying to talk to Jimmy and avoid Paige at the same time.

"Sure" Jimmy nodded, and the two walked off, not completely sure as to where they were going, but just walking. "So...what is it? What do we need to talk about?" Jimmy asked.

"It's about today." Hazel started

"I already told you Haze, it's all forgiven--"

"Yeah, but there's more." Hazel interrupted. Jimmy's face grew cold. He was getting slightly infuriated with the whole situation, and wasn't completely sure if he could take any more news from Hazel about this.

"I just found out that Steven...is...schizophrenic. And he's looking for you." Hazel said in a fearful voice. Jimmy's face broke from cold into a joyous and boisterous laugh.

"That's the funniest thing I've ever heard." Jimmy laughed.

"I'm not joking Jimmy!" Hazel pleaded out of fear. Jimmy tried his hardest to contain his laughter. "I mean; should you really be taking this lightly? After Rick..." Hazel stopped. She knew this was a subject she didn't want to go into.

"You're right. I should be taking this more seriously. Lord knows; I don't want to have to go through all of that again." Jimmy stated. "Maybe this isn't all that serious though. Maybe he'll calm down, move back from wherever he came from, and you'll never hear from him again." Jimmy said.

"Doubtful. Very doubtful."

Meanwhile…

Alex's jaw dropped. This couldn't be right...Wasn't he off somewhere with Emma? Alex tried to ask that to Ellie, but a crash was heard near the door.

"Jay, stop it! That was my lamp!" Ellie cried. No matter how much she hated it, no one would be destorying property that made this house a home to her and Sean.

"Alex," Jay said ignoring Ellie to the max, "nice to see you."

This wasn't right. He'd never seen them together and before he walked in, they were falling asleep in front of the TV...Why was he like this? As far as everyone besides Sean was concerned, the secret was well-kept. He'd never tell Jay about them, that wasn't like Sean. Loyal Sean. It wasn't something he'd done. Jay was worked up about something else...right?

"Hey," Alex responded dully.

"What's this?" Jay asked in a...well, stupid manner, as if he though--or knew--it was something else. "Ellie?" He turned to her.

"What the hell ya want with me?" Ellie asked in surprise. She got up and left the living room.

"Jay, please leave."

He smirked. "You don't love me anymore, baby?" he asked in an uncharacteristic manner. Kind of like a. woman...? He proceeded to walk over to Alex. He put his arm on either side of her, just above her shoulders, holding up against the back of the couch. Soon enough, they were face-to-face. "Oh, wait...you love"--he gasped, very unconvincingly--"Ellie..."

"Jay, stop it." Alex thought to herself concerning Ellie's whereabouts. "It's not like that...You know it."

"Oh, but I don't," he told told her.

He smirked and gave her a kiss. Alex didn't bother fighting back. It was like he was really someone else at the moment. Once he'd parted the kiss, he waited, as did Alex. There seemed to be an elongated pause between the time they kissed and the time Alex grabbed his collar and brought him into another as Ellie watched from the back hall. And Alex wasn't stopping either. What was she doing? ...Or what wasn't she doing? The kiss turned into making out as Alex pulled Jay on top of her on the couch. Ellie walked away. Obviously the whole thing was a mistake.

Meanwhile...

"You had us worried sick that something may have happened to you. You could've been hurt again. I mean, c'mon Emma, you just got out of the hospital!" Spike yelled.

"I'm fine alright! I'm not hurt, and I'm not dying. I'm fine." Emma refuted.

"Emma!" Snake interrupted, "Calm down. Don't talk to your mother like that." Emma sulked at her behavior while Spike tried to calm down as well.

"We don't want you out that late ever again, understand?" Spike asked.

"Yes!" Emma responded in an angry manner.

"And we don't want you hanging out with Sean either. Especially if he keeps you out like this." Spike said.

"But Mom..."

"No buts Emma. He is very irresponsible, and I don't want him in care of my daughter without my supervision." Spike responded. Emma wanted to speak up, but didn't. "If you want to see Sean, he can come over here, but no dates during the summer." Spike finished. Emma crossed her arms over her chest in a fit, and stomped upstairs to her room. Totally infuriated, but what could she do?

Meanwhile...

Hazel and Jimmy sat on a park bench, a few blocks from Paige's house. They looked at the stars, and smiled. Happy to be with each other again, although there were some dark things hanging over them, they tried not to let it bother them tonight because after all, they were in love, and nothing can damage that. Hazel thought back to the beginning of summer, and all she could do was kick herself for her stupidity. Here she was now, snuggled up in the arms of the best guy she's ever known, and she almost ruined it. Good thing Jimmy is the great guy he is. Otherwise, she could be sitting under the stars alone right now.

In her mind, she did wonder about Steven, and whether he really was on the rampage for Jimmy, but if he came at him like he did before, Jimmy is going to kick his butt. Hazel's thoughts were interrupted by a small kiss on the forehead. She leaned her head up and smiled at him, and watched him smile back. Just then, at that precise moment, a hard foot connected with the back of Jimmy's head. Jimmy fell face forward onto the grass, as Hazel looked up at his attacker. It was Steven.

"Steve! Stop! What the hell are you doing??!!" Hazel shouted as Steve mounted Jimmy, and laid a few heavy left hooks across his face.

Steven paused to face Hazel, "I'm doing it for you! This is all for you!" Steven squealed out passionately. It was obvious he was another person. Hazel had never seen this side of him before. Just as Steven went to return to punishing Jimmy, Jimmy caught him with a quick right hook that sent Steven off to the side holding his face. Jimmy staggered to his feet, prepared to continue squaring off with Steven, but when Steven slowly rose to his feet, he quickly went into his pants, and pulled out a chrome 22. Jimmy paused, as did Hazel. For the second time in Jimmy's life, it was as if time stood still.

Meanwhile…

Jay continued to kiss Alex, deeply, lovingly, passionately...completely obliviously. The boy was clueless. It felt real. Okay, so it was real. Even to Alex, that statement was true. But not on purpose. Alex would later blame Jay for the "mistake" she would soon make.

She set her hand over Jay's chest and they stopped kissing.

Jay looked a little surprised. "What?" he asked.

"You make it sound as if you cared," responded Alex with a slightly cold tone in her voice. She backed him off her a little bit, but he wouldn't move any further than a couple of centimeters.

He chuckled once. "Wh-What, you're serious?" Alex nodded. "Well, I do. I always have," Jay told her, accentuating it with a kiss. "Alex, I love you."

She was tempted to say she loved him, too. It'd be easier that way, right? She wouldn't have to worry about what her friends (being Jay, Sean and Amy) would think of her. She wouldn't have to carry the burden of accepting Ellie no matter what and pretending some things didn't bother her when they really did. Sure, it was a limited number of things, but that limited amount could really make her mad...or think.

"Lexxi?" Jay asked. Alex had wondered off in her thoughts. "Alex, did you hear me? I love you."

She could only look down. Nothing more. A couple of blinks. "Do you really mean it?" she asked, shaking her hair to the side, looking up at him.

Jay gave her a short smile. "Do I mean it..." he asked in a way that would make it not seem as a question.

He leaned back on top of her with continual kisses, never answering her question. Alex didn't mind, as she kissed him back. It made her shudder as Jay slowly positioned his hand at Alex's belt. She would've said something, but decided against it. Not that anything much was going though her brain. Her body was speaking for her. "I love you, too," Alex finally responded. Jay smiled and kissed her neck softly. It was a domino affect from there on out.

Meanwhile...

Emma lied in her bed when the house phone rang. She didn't bother trying to answer it. If it was for her, it was Sean, and she knew Spike wanted to talk to him first. "Emma...telephone!" Spike shouted up the stairwell to her daughter. Emma leaned up from her bed, and reached for the phone on her nightstand.

"Hello?"

"Is your mom screening your calls now?" Trey asked.

"Yeah, she's a little upset since I spent the night at Sean's." Emma stated.

"Oh." Trey replied. Which left several moments of silence between the two. "So are you grounded?" he asked.

"No. I just can't go anywhere with Sean without supervision." Emma replied.

"That sucks. What about me?" Trey asked.

"Dunno, but I'm banking that it's the same thing." Emma answered.

"Now that really sucks. I wanted you to come down to the movies with me later." Trey suggested. Emma thought about it. She knew she couldn't see Sean, but she didn't want to stay in this house, and she'd be hanging out with a friend.

"What time?"

Meanwhile...

The gun trembled in Steven's hand. Jimmy remembered this scene far too well. He wasn't even looking at Steven anymore. All he could see was Rick, doused in paint and feathers holding out a pistol. Steven had the same intentions that Rick had. Time was taking forever. Steven was too afraid to shoot, and Jimmy was almost too afraid to move. Then it hit him. He ran when Rick shot him, and had to go through months and months of recovery. Forget that, he wasn't going to do that again. So while Steven was stalling, Jimmy took advantage, he dove for Steven and tried to wrestle the gun from his hand. The two tussled on the ground, as Steven mounted Jimmy. Jimmy struggled to keep the gun pointed away from him. He held out Steven's hand, still trying to force it from his grip.

"Jimmy!!" Hazel screamed as she covered her face with her hands in blatant fear.

Still, Jimmy and Steven wrestled with getting the gun free. Jimmy finally saw an opportunity, and hit Steven in the face with a hard right hook that only frazzled him for a moment. Soon after, Steven was in more of a fit of anger than before. He struggled to free himself from Jimmy's weight on top of him, but it was becoming more and more futile, as Jimmy held both his arms down. Steven lifted a knee up into Jimmy's ribs, and regained mounting position. Just when he felt he had the upper hand, he felt a sharp kick to his head. Hazel had knocked him off of Jimmy.

"Jimmy, jimmy, are you alright?" Hazel asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Jimmy said as he stood up with his back facing Steven. "We should get out of here." Jimmy suggested as he lifted Hazel off the ground.

"But what if he.." Hazel couldn't finish her sentence. Just as she looked over Jimmy's shoulder, she saw Steven sit up with the gun in his hand. She couldn't react quick enough, so she did what she thought was best. "Noooo" Hazel screamed as she pushed Jimmy out of the way. She was hit. Hazel fell down to the ground, a bullet had pierced her chest. She was losing consciousness. It took awhile before Jimmy and Steven had realized what happened.

Meanwhile…

Alex awoke on a couch: A rather uncomfortable leather couch. There was no room, and it made her back ache. She tried to scoot back, but something was in the way. She turned around to see someone else behind her. A shirt was covering their head. She hoped it was Ellie.

When Alex pulled the shirt off, but a face that featured that of a male's instead of a female's---Jay's instead of Ellie's.

Alex gasped in horrification.

"Get up."

Alex whirled around. Ellie was at the front door. "Get up!" Alex did so, startled. "And get out."

"What?"

"Get out."

"What, why?" Alex asked. She was confused. It was too early in the morning---or too late at night---for this.

"Why?" Ellie retorted, surprised-like. "WHY? You have sex on your girlfriend's couch with your ex-boyfriend and expect her---being ME---to let you stay? Hell no; get out of my house!" Ellie seemed really fired up. This was when Alex really regretted what she did. "Get OUT!" She opened the door.

Alex quickly got up. Her belt was unbuckled, her shirt was half-off, and her hair was a mess, but overall, she was pretty well put together. She sighed sharply and looked around. "Um, okay. I'll, um---"

"Don't bother. We're over," Ellie interrupted. "Over. Now leave."

"O-Okay. Alright, I'm going." Alex slowly walked out the door and tried to get a second glance at Ellie, but she was turned away. As if she didn't want Alex to see her face. "Bye, Ellie," she said once she was right outside of the door. Ellie didn't respond. She shut the door quickly.

"Well, hello, Mr. Hogart..." Ellie coaxed to the sleeping boy on her couch. "I'll just wait until you wake up, too..." She sat in the space Alex was lying down in. "I'll just wait..."

Meanwhile…

Emma walked upstairs, "Can I go to the movi---"

"No." Spike said immediately.

"What?! Why?! It's only with Trey!"

"I don't care. I said no."

Emma sighed heavily and went back downstairs, slamming the door that opened to the stairs. She grabbed a bunch of stuff and put it into a suitcase. Most of her clothes, money, make up, the works. She called Trey back.

"Hey Trey?"

"Yeah?"

"I'll go to that movie with you for sure. Will you pick me up... Right now?"

"Sure."

"And...This will sound weird... But I'm running away, so I will have a bunch of my stuff..."

"That's fine. Where are you staying?"

Emma was silent.

"You can stay with me. I have an apartment."

"That's great Trey! Thanks! See you soon."

"Bye."

Emma smiled and hung up the phone. She didn't think of Sean, or how she was dating him again. She locked her door and put pillows under her bed covers. She then retreated to the window to wait for Trey. Within about 5 minutes Trey was there. Em pushed her stuff out of the window and Trey lifted it as she hoisted herself out of her room. Trey smiled at her. Emma smiled back, and looked into his beautiful eyes, and then at his wonderful, amazing smile. They walked quickly to Trey's car and sped away.

Meanwhile...

Steven ran away. He didn't stay with Jimmy to help Hazel, he just ran. Jimmy wanted to scream after him, but he couldn't. He held Hazel in his arms, and tried not to cry harder than he already was. The bullet had pierced Hazel in the stomach, just below her breast. She was leaking blood, and losing consciousness fast. Jimmy pulled out his cell phone, and called an ambulance. Then he called Hazel's parents, and told them what happened. In a matter of moments, the ambulance arrived on the scene to pick up Hazel and Jimmy. Hazel was losing massive amounts of blood as the paramedics struggled to keep her blood flow steady and circulatory.

Finally, they reached the hospital where Hazel could get some more medical attention. Jimmy went to the waiting room and greeted Mr. and Mrs. Aden. "Oh my god, James. What happened? What's going on? Is she going to be alright?" Mrs. Aden asked hastily.

"I don't know. She's lost a lot of blood, and they're treating her now." Jimmy answered.

"Oh my God." Mrs. Aden silently whispered as she put her face in her hands, and cried on Mr. Aden's chest. Minutes later, Paige and Marco arrived at the hospital. Paige fell into Jimmy's arms when he told her what happened. She cried heavily as he held her. Marco stood still and let a few tears slide down his face. They all waited in the waiting room for over an hour until a doctor came out to speak with them.

"Are you waiting on news about Hazel Aden?" he asked.

Mrs. Aden rose up immediately, "Yes. Yes we are. Is she going to be alright?" she asked.

The doctor's head dropped down instantly. It was obvious that he had bad news. "She's lost an extreme amount of blood from her sternum, and the shock has somewhat paralyzed her brain functions." he explained.

"Wait, wait. What does that mean?" Marco asked.

"It means that until further notice... Ms. Aden will be in a coma." the doctor said. Mrs. Aden broke down again as did Jimmy and Paige. They all sat in the waiting room, crying, and trying to console each other.

Meanwhile…

Jay was still asleep when Ellie herself began to slip into unconsciousness. When he began to rustle, Ellie didn't feel it. He woke up to see her lying over him; he hollered; Ellie screamed and jumped up.

Jay furrowed his eyebrows. "Ellie?" He felt a slight bit embarrassed. "Uh, look, where's Alex? I really need---" Ellie hushed him with a soft kiss. He was confused. "Ellie---"

"Shut up, Jay, and listen. Alex is gone. I kicked her out. I don't know if I still want to keep doing what I was. Obviously you love her, so why don't you chase after her? I know I'm not gonna. No, not anymore." Ellie took a much-needed breath. "So sit down, tell me what the hell you came here for, or you'll be out in a second, too..."

Jay thought about this..."choice"...Ellie had given him. He figured it not much of a dilemma, but because Ellie was his friend, he decided to tell her.

"You still gonna kick me out and never gonna talk to me again?" Jay asked, smiling.

"Like you care..." A smirk pivoted on Ellie's lips, but didn't really show. "Now talk."

Meanwhile...

Doctor Franklin came back into the waiting room several minutes later to speak with the Aden family and friends. "She's in stable condition now. You're all welcome to see her." He said. They all stood up, and headed inside Hazel's hospital room to look on at her. She lay in the bed with an IV tube in her arm while her breathing had been stabilized for the time being. Mrs. Aden broke down again upon seeing her daughter, as did Mr. Aden. The sight of seeing her was painful, but actually being there and having the moment replay over and over in your head was the more disturbing part. Just ask Jimmy. Even though he was in more pain than ever, his mind couldn't help but wonder what Steven was going through now.

Meanwhile….

Steven darted to his house in fear and frustration. His common sensibility was returning to him, and he was deathly afraid of the consequences for his actions. He came to his home, ran in, and slammed the door behind him. He slid down and started to cry into his hands. Marrissa came downstairs to check on her brother. "Steven, steven, what's wrong?" she asked.

Steven sobbed softly while trying to explain what he had done, "I-I-I…..I shot her." He finished.

"What?" Marrissa replied with a heavy sigh, "Shot who?" she asked.

"H-Hazel" Steven squeaked out in between flooding tears. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry…" Steven pleaded to his sister, as she grabbed him and held him in her arms.

"Shhh… Don't worry. It'll be okay. It'll be okay." Marrissa consoled, but her confident words had no effect as Steven continued his bawling in her arms. Completely afraid of what would come next.

Meanwhile…

Trey and Emma drove down towards his house.

"So, do you want to stay with me for now?" Trey asked.

Emma nodded, "Yeah, thanks." She smiled a sparkling smile, entrancing Trey.

"Why are you running away?"

"My parents are complete morons." She said with a small sigh and laugh.

"Haha, niiice! Mine are too, though. That's why I live alone in my apartment."

Emma looked at him and swallowed hard, "I see." He lives alone? She thought to herself.

After Trey and Emma got to his house they dropped off her stuff. They were supposed to go see a movie, but before Emma knew it she found herself lying on Trey's bed, making out.

Emma kissed Trey again. Trey's hands started to wander, and they ended up at the bottom of Emma's shirt. Nervousness entered and swirrled inside her body as he lifted her shirt off, but she didn't stop him. Instead, she found her hands unbuttoning and talking off his shirt.

When she felt her pants unzipped she stopped, "Trey... This will be my first time."

He looked at her, "Do you want me to stop?" He asked, rather dissapointed.

She paused but shook her head, "No... Just wear a condom, of course."

He smiled and nodded, then took off her pants.

Meanwhile…

"I came here to find out why Alex never returned my calls anymore. I know that whole thing with Emma was definitely a factor, but she'd at least talk to my machine. Then, all of a sudden, she was never there to. At first, I though she was just ignoring me, but then one day 'Mom' picked up and told me she wasn't home often anymore." Jay shrugged a frowned a little.

Ellie looked down. "That's because she was here with me..."

"I know that now," snapped Jay.

"That was uncalled-for."

"Look, Elle, I still care about Alex. Probably a hell of a lot more than she cares about me, but I wanted to find out if she really wanted to hate me the rest of her life. You ruined it, Ellie."

Ellie started to look angry. "Ruined it? Me? I ruined your relationship with Alex? Jay, you had at least two girls go down on you---one of them being her best friend! Don't tell me I was the one who ruined it."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah!" Ellie repeated behind him.

"Well you were! She finally started to forget about it and soon I would have my Lexxi back. She was talking to me, Ellie. And as dumb as that may sound to you, it meant something to me. Do you have any idea how long I've waited for her voice? For it to say something other than 'You sleazebag. You godforsaken sleazebag. Never talk to me again'? Huh?!" he yelled.

Ellie quickly calmed down when she realized that she was wrong for saying what she had. When really she wasn't, but it felt like so to her.

Jay caught his breath enough to speak steadily. "I started asking around. 'Where's Alex? Where would she go?' Turns out I just got lucky one day. I was about to walk to the door here when I saw her pull up first. She didn't notice me, so I went along with it. She knocked. Two seconds later, you're at the door, dragging her in. You kissed her before you closed the door." He sighed. "I didn't have the greatest view, so I denied it. Convinced myself, fully, that you and her were the friends you never are."

Ellie began to protest, but Jay shut her up. "I was about to knock, but then I heard one of you yell. It was all wrong. I heard footsteps; so I headed behind the deck and saw you storm out, of your own house, Ellie? I found it weird. I left later. Ran home." Jay sighed again. He looked Ellie dead in her eyes and told her, "Ellie I haven't thought about anything else since that time. That was all that ever ran through my head. I couldn't take it."

Ellie averted from Jay's stare, sharply. She made sure to take an incredibly unnecessarily long time with her one breath. "So you ruined my relationship the way I did yours?"

"No. I did what I did because I still care about Alex. I dunno how you feel about her, but there's no way you care for her more than me. No one does. Not even her parents! I was the first person to ever care about Alex, and I'll never forget that---Ever... Look, I'm sorry if I hurt you but I took the only opportunity I had to set my mind at rest and get Alex back at the same time."

The room fell silent.

Meanwhile...

Jimmy sat up as the sun's rays came across his eyes telling him it was a new day. Jimmy was curled up in a hospital chair in the waiting room. When he opened his eyes, he looked around at everyone else who was there. The Aden's were still asleep, so was Marco and Paige. Jimmy stood up, and went towards Hazel's room. She laid there comatose, not moving. It was a bone-chilling sight to Jimmy seeing his girlfriend in the state that he was in a few months ago. Jimmy's fists balled in anger. He wanted so bad to beat the living hell out of Steven. He wanted to kill him. He wanted to make him suffer like Hazel was suffering. Like her family was suffering. Like he was suffering. A knock on the hospital door relaxed Jimmy from his murderous thoughts. A small female figure covered her face with a large bouquet of flowers. She walked in and sat the flowers down on a nightstand next to Hazel's bed.

"I'm really sorry about what happened." she said.

Jimmy nodded, "Thanks. Um, I don't want to seem rude, but who are you?" Jimmy asked.

The girl leaned up, and looked at Jimmy. She started to smile, but her lips tore into sadness. She began to cry, but covered her face quickly with one hand. "I tried to warn her. I really tried." she said.

"What?" Jimmy asked. The girl sniffled several times, and walked past Jimmy.

"I'm really sorry. Really, I am." she said, and disappeared out of the hospital room. Jimmy stood there in a state of confusion, and then he went towards the bouquet of flowers to see if there was any card on it that would tell him who that was, and what she meant by warning Hazel. Jimmy flipped through the large bouquet until he found it.

A small note was tied to one of the roses. Jimmy lifted it off, and read it aloud, "I can only hope for your forgiveness. This isn't what I wanted. I'm so sorry. Steven". Jimmy's fists balled again. Even if Hazel could forgive Steven, he doubted that he ever would, but still Jimmy wondered who that girl might've been. His thoughts were interrupted by a loud beeping noise from the EKG. Hazel's life force line was completely straight. The doctors rushed in and tried to revive her, to get her pulse back to normal. They kept screaming and yelling, and eventually forced Jimmy out of the room.

"What's going on? What's going on??!" Jimmy screamed. No one would answer him. They shut the door, and left Jimmy outside in fear and panic.

Meanwhile...

Emma's jeans fell to the ground, and suddenly her thoughts started to drift into understanding what she was doing. She was cheating on Sean, she had run away from home, and no doubt upset her mother and Snake again, and if she did this, there was no telling how she'd feel afterwards. She knew the truth, that she didn't care as much for Trey as she did Sean, and she knew that this wasn't something she wanted to do. Her body started to quiver nervously under Trey. He smiled. "You're scared?" he asked.

Emma smiled, trying to seem welcoming, but she was still debating in her heart and mind if this was something she really wanted to do. Trey had gotten Emma near completely naked while she still thought about what she was doing. The fear and uncertainty was setting in heavy, and it didn't take long for her to make her choice, "I can't do this." Emma shouted faintly, as she leaped up from the pillow and went to get her jeans. "I'm sorry, I-I just can't." Emma hurriedly got dressed. "Could you take me home please?" she asked.

Trey nodded, obviously disappointed, but still he complied. "Yeah" he said with a heavy sigh, and in moments, they were both fully dressed and out the door.

The ride home, Emma didn't speak. She leaned her head against the window and didn't speak at all. It was a dead silent drive back to Emma's. She hopped out of Trey's car, and went to go to her house, but Trey called her back. "Hey Em?" She turned around slowly. "See ya around?" he asked. Emma still didn't answer. She nodded hopefully, and went back towards her basement window that she had crawled out of, and slipped back in. Emma plopped down on her bed, and stared at her ceiling. Still entranced in deep thought. She walked around a bit trying to think of what to say or do, and eventually only came to one conclusion.

Emma headed upstairs, and saw Spike and Snake sitting in front of the TV with little Jack. Emma swallowed hard, and spoke up, "Mom, Dad." she started. Spike and Snake turned to face their daughter at the sound of her voice. "I realized something. After all this time, I've done a few things that weren't right, and I never should've done them. I understand now that a lot of it was stupid, and for no good reason anyway. I want to leave it all behind, and I hope you will too." Em said.

"Wow, what brought you to this revelation?" Spike asked.

"Summer, I guess." Em said with a light chuckle, and smile.

Meanwhile...

Ellie stared coldly at Jay. He had a point, and Ellie didn't want to argue with him. She felt defeated in many ways. She really believed her and Alex were going to have a future. Even though it wasn't exactly the relationship she ever imagined she'd have. Somehow she still didn't want it to come to an end. "You're right." Ellie said softly, "You really do love her, and you really do care for her, and it's obvious she still cares for you too. I guess I just don't fit into that equation." Ellie said solemnly. The room went silent again, until there was a knock at the door. Ellie stood up to answer it. She went to the door, and opened it. She didn't expect her to be standing there, but she was. Alex stood in the doorway looking more vulnerable than she has ever looked. As if she's ever looked vulnerable. She struggled to speak. No words would come out. Her eyes started to water because she couldn't get the words out. Either she was scared or it was just nothing she could say.

"Alex! We should go." Jay said taking her hand, and pulling her away from the door. Alex didn't offer any resistance, but still looked like she was struggling for the right words to say. Maybe to offer some condolence to Ellie. Maybe tell her that she didn't mean to string her along like she did. Maybe that she didn't mean to do what she did, but nothing would come out. So Alex and Jay left Ellie alone. Just like everyone else had already.

Meanwhile...

Jimmy was frantic. He was in a rush of worry, and no one would tell him what was going on. Hazel was flat lining, and every doctor in the hospital, it seemed, came in to help. At least he hoped they were helping. He went back towards the waiting room where everyone heard him struggling to find out what was going on. "James, what happened? What's going on?" Ms. Aden asked with her voice cracking harshly between tears.

Jimmy grabbed her quickly, and held her tight. "She'll be fine. I know she will. I know she will." Jimmy said sternly. He was fighting back tears, anger, and frustration, and he didn't even notice that he still held Steven's note in his hand. He read it to himself, 'I can only hope for your forgiveness...' it read. 'If she doesn't survive this, I swear, you will never have my forgiveness.' Jimmy thought to himself. He balled the paper in his fist, as everyone sat down, and tried to calm down. All they could do was hope for the best for Hazel right now.

2 hours later...

Doctor Franklin came into the waiting room again to talk to the friends and family of Hazel. He had a more reassuring smile on his face this time. "Family, Hazel suffered a mild comatose attack which caused her to flat line earlier. We were able to suppress the attack, and stabilize her. She should be fine now." he said.

"Is she going to wake up?" Paige asked.

"Not anytime soon. I'm sorry."

Meanwhile...

"Why did you have to go up there anyway?!" Steven shouted at his sister.

"I felt sorry for her! You're the one who put a bullet through her chest, and put her there!" Marrissa combated.

So...what're we going to do?" Steven asked breathlessly.

Marrissa put her head down in obvious sadness, and frustration, "You're gonna have to go back." she said.

"No! No, I don't want to go back there!" Steven shouted.

"I know, but it's the only way you're gonna get better." Marrissa tried to explain.

"No! No! You can't make me go." Steven shouted.

"Please, you have to. I'm sorry...I'm so sorry." Marrissa said as she hugged her brother, and began to cry, "but you need help, and they can help you there." she explained.

"I don't want to go." Steven said crying

"I know"

"I...don't want to go."

Meanwhile...

Ellie sat back on her couch in front of the television. She wasn't paying attention to the tube as she had her hands covered over her face in sheer disappointment and utter sadness. She felt like a fool who had been suckered into a whirlwind romance that had absolutely no future. It was depressing and upsetting. Ellie sighed, and let out a heavy breath. She buried her face in the nearest pillow, and tried to pass out to sleep off this entire situation. "Worst... summer...ever." Ellie adamantly stated into the pillow, and aloud to herself. She had found herself slowly crawling into an oblivious sleep when she heard the pounding on her door again. Ellie's eyes immediately shot open, and narrowed. She wasn't just angry; she was annoyed that anyone was bothering her at this moment. "This better be really good." Ellie mumbled coarsely to herself as she stood up from the couch, and went to the door. She ran her hands through her hair, and tried to straighten up for whomever might be at the door. After moments of preparation, she swung the door open, and the person standing at her door wasn't whom she neither wanted nor suspected. It was Ms. Russel: The same woman who had wanted to sell her house weeks ago. "You?" Ellie said as opposed to a general proper greeting.

"You?" Ms. Russel retorted. "I did tell you that I would be back here, and I have some news I'd like to share with you, may I come in?" she asked.

Her day was already going bad enough, this could only make it worse, so why not welcome it?. "Sure...come in." Ellie said with a heavy sigh, as she stepped away from the door, and welcomed the lady inside. She still stood stout in her elegant, professional demeanor, and with a smile on her face, awaited Ellie to speak first. "How can I help you?" Ellie asked, even though she wanted to choke on the words.

"Well, your mother had insisted selling the house while she was hospitalized, since she was going to live with her sister. However, I explained to her that there was a rather insolent child at her house who was insisting that I do not sell it." Ms. Russel said. Ellie was growing more nervous, and annoyed by the second. She fought back the urge to hurry Ms. Russel along, and just sat back and listened intently. "I explained to Mrs. Nash, that in no way did I wish to remove a child from their home, especially if she has nowhere to go, so your mother said that if you want to stay here, you're more than welcome to. She's being released in two weeks, and she's leaving the deed to this house in your name. Congratulations Ellie." Ms. Russel informed.

Ellie's mouth widened. She was shocked that her mother would even suggest such a thing, but she wasn't even remotely going to argue with it. With Student Welfare, and a decent job, she'd be able to cover everything. Finally, a smile had rested on Ellie's face. "Thanks. Thank you so much. And sorry about being so hard before." Ellie apologized.

"That's fine." Ms. Russel said waving her hand, and dismissing Ellie's sentiment. "Well, see you later Ellie, and enjoy your new home." Ms. Russel said, and saw herself out. Ellie fell down onto the couch with a gleaming smile on her face. She still had gotten what she wanted in the end.

Meanwhile...

Emma lay in her bed, downstairs in the basement, clenching a book in her hands. She was so into it that she didn't notice someone knocking on her window. Once the knocks grew louder, Em finally focused her attention towards her doggy-door window, and noticed it was Sean knocking.

Emma stood up from her bed joyfully, and went to the window. "Hey" she greeted Sean with a hug and a kiss, as he pulled himself into her room.

"Hey, how ya been? I haven't really heard from you in a while. I was worried." Sean stated.

"No, I'm fine. I've just been barricaded in my room for awhile." Emma replied. The two headed towards Emma's bed and sat down. Sean tried not to notice Emma's novice attempt at masking her feelings and emotions, but it bothered him too much not to ask.

"Em, are you okay?" Sean asked, obviously concerned. Emma didn't answer at first. Worry filled her face, as she tried to compose herself well enough to tell Sean what was burning inside of her.

"Sean…I kissed another guy." Emma blurted out.

"What?" Sean nearly screamed. Emma's eyes bulged in an attempt to keep Sean quiet. "When? Who? Why?" Sean asked, still maintaining a vicious volume in his voice.

"Sean, it was nothing. Nothing came out of it." Emma struggled to explain, but Sean interrupted.

"Emma, do you have any idea what this is doing to me?" Sean asked. He didn't expect Emma to answer, so he continued. "I came back here to see if I could smooth things over with Ellie. Only to find out that she's been cheating on me…with another girl…in my own place!" Sean admitted. Emma's eyes bulged at the mention of this new information, but aside from that, she could tell that Sean was still hurt. "So then, I wanted to be with the one girl who I admired for so long, and adored, and that was you, and then you cheat on me. I mean, is there something wrong with me?" Sean asked.

"No, Sean, I'm sorry. I never wanted any of this to happen. I've realized that I have very little self-control. Maybe a little too late." Emma confessed. "I don't want to hurt anybody else, and I know that I've been doing that to a lot of people lately, and I want to stop." Emma broke away in tears. Sean sat closer to her, and held her.

"I get it, Emma. It's okay." Sean said.

"Can you forgive me?" Emma asked.

"Yeah, I can." Sean said, and he kissed Emma on the cheek. "But we're going to have to break up." Sean finished.

"What? Why?"

"You need time…and so do I."

Emma nodded accordingly, as Sean stood up from the bed, and climbed back out the window. Just before he left out, Emma called back to him. "Sean? Is it over?" she asked.

Sean smiled, and said, "No, just a pause." He climbed out of the window, and walked home. Emma smiled to herself. Realizing that it can only get better from here.

Meanwhile...

To the doctors, there seemed to be no change in Hazel's condition, and the length of her coma was growing. It was getting too much for the Aden's. They decided to take a break from the hospital, and finally go home. Paige and Marco did the same. Jimmy couldn't leave. His body paralyzed to Hazel's bedside. He wanted so badly for her to wake up, but it seemed as though his hopes were dwindling. He held Hazel's hand up to his head, and closed his eyes. Saying a silent prayer to himself. Someone else at the door took in a huge gulp, and swallowed hard, as they braced themselves to knock. When Jimmy heard the knock, he immediately turned around, and his eyes shot to fury. "What the hell are you doing here?" Jimmy asked coldly. He sat Hazel's hand down, and stood up.

"I..I just want to say goodbye." Steven choked out.

"Give me one reason why I shouldn't put you in this hospital too." Jimmy questioned.

Steven's eyes began to water, as he choked back tears, and spoke as clearly as he could force out, "Jimmy...I need help. I'm going to get help. I just want Hazel to know that, and that when she wakes up, she can go back to being the great girl she once was. She doesn't have to remember me. She doesn't have to remember this summer. She can go on with her life like nothing has changed." Steven managed to say. Jimmy didn't respond, he was still staring a cold hole through Steven. Steve could sense it, so he turned around and headed out the hospital room. He held his head down, as Jimmy watched him walk all the way out of the hospital. He unclenched his fists, and stared at the door still fuming with anger.

"Is he gone?" Hazel's voice interrupted Jimmy's anger. He spun around to face her in excitement.

"Haze! Oh my god, how are you feeling? I can't believe it!" Jimmy cheered ecstatically as he hugged Hazel.

"I'm fine. How are you?" Hazel asked.

"Better, now that I have you again." Jimmy said. Hazel let a slight tear slide down her cheek.

"I feel exactly the same." she said, and the two hugged again. "You know, I heard that entire conversation, you and Steven had." Hazel admitted.

"Really?" Jimmy asked.

"Yeah, I was surprised you didn't kill him." Hazel joked. Jimmy chuckled. "But he's wrong about one thing." Hazel said.

"What's that?" Jimmy asked concerned.

"I can't go on like nothing has changed because the truth is, everything has changed, for better and for worst. I don't know, maybe its just summer, but summer changes everything." Hazel said with a smile. The two sat and talked to each other for the next several hours; both happy to be back in each other's company once again.

Meanwhile...

Ellie's happiness was only momentary though. Sure, she was thrilled about having her own house at such a young age. That's a dream come true, but still something was missing. And she desperately wanted it. Ellie rested on the couch in front of the TV. She looked over at her clock, and saw that it read 12:30 AM. Ms. Russel had left over an hour and a half ago, but someone was knocking on her door now. Ellie thought to herself, she wanted to smile, but didn't want to get her hopes up. She shot up from the couch, straightened up a bit, and went for the door. She took in a calming breath and went to open it. She tried to look angry upon opening it, but the girl who faced her stood more confident than Ellie had expected. She's supposed to be torn up, Ellie thought. Why isn't she crying or showing some form of broken down emotion? The answer hit her immediately...it was Alex. That was the only logical explanation.

"Ellie..." Alex spoke. "We're going to do this." Alex said.

"Are you sure? Because if you want to go back to screwing guys on my couch, I don't think we're gonna make it." Ellie said coldly.

"No, I want you. And as strange as it feels to have such a strong attraction to another girl, I still can't get past how much everything about you is so incredible." Alex explained.

"So what was that earlier…a relapse?" Ellie asked.

"Worse. It was fear. Fear I never experienced. And I started to think that...I don't want fear to guide me in a relationship. I wanna be with someone where everything happens naturally, and it's all perfect." Alex said. She slowly headed towards Ellie and leaned in for a kiss, but Ellie pulled back.

"What if I'm not ready?" Ellie said. Alex cringed, her expression changed from confidence to worry. "Just kidding" Ellie smiled, and pulled Alex closer to her and the two kissed. Ellie pulled Alex in the house by her waist, and shut the door without parting their lips. The two held each other close as they walked through the front room to Ellie's bedroom removing clothes along the way. They giggled, they laughed, and they kissed the whole time.

By morning, clothes were sprawled everywhere, and Alex woke up in Ellie's arms. She kissed her nose to wake her up. Ellie smiled at the sight of Alex greeting her. They kissed to meet the day. For moments, they held each other in silence until Alex broke it, "El...Summer is over. You ready for school next week?" she asked.

"Yeah...I just need to shake up my lesbian image a bit." Ellie answered. The two laughed a little more in the sheets of Ellie's bed. Ellie was no longer lonely, no longer missing something in her life. Alex had fulfilled emptiness that cutting, her father, or even Sean could fill. Ellie was finally complete, and Alex wasn't afraid anymore...because they had each other.

Meanwhile…

Emma sat back in bed, a smile still on her face, which slightly puzzled her. She knew that taking a break from Sean was going to be good, but she also knew that it wasn't the best thing for her either. Maybe she figured it would just be better for Sean to be happy, and for them both to think about everything, make sure their feelings were really there. She looked at her book, debating whether to pour herself into it or not. She wasn't really up to reading anymore, so she stuck her bookmark in it and set it on her side table. Em still felt absolutely terrible for everything.

Sean stood up, after climbing out of his former girlfriend's window. These past couple weeks had been crazy. Coming back to Toronto to find his at-the-time-girlfriend cheating on him…. With another girl, and then having his newest girlfriend cheat on him with some guy. Life for Sean Cameron wasn't the best, but he surely hoped that it would improve, and judging by how it was going right now, he had a feeling it just might.

When Trey had gotten home, he sighed. He liked Emma a lot, but she loved someone else. What was he to do when the only person he wanted didn't want him back as much as he wanted her? Trey knew he had to move on.

Days passed and the first day of school slowly neared the students of Degrassi. Kids and their parents were shopping for school supplies, not to mention school clothes. Just imagine how terrible it would be with Paige Michealchuck not having a new wardrobe for the new school year!

Emma sat in a chair in her bedroom, bored and not wanting to attend school in a little less than 7 days. She sighed. Sean hadn't called her back from earlier. She walked upstairs, in search of something to eat. No one but her was home. As she bent down to look into the fridge, the doorbell rang. She stood up and walked to the door, slightly frustrated because food had been so welcoming to her stomach. Opening the door, Emma didn't see anyone. She looked down, and in plain view laid a brown teddy bear with a note attached to it. Smiling, she picked it up and opened the note.

_Emma, follow the roses._

She looked ahead, seeing a rose on the ground every now and then. She laughed and picked them up, one by one, as she followed the roses to the park. Looking around she saw nothing.

"Emma." A familiar voice said.

Emma turned around, following the voice. Sean stood behind her, with another rose in his hand. She grinned.

"Would you be willing to date me again?" Sean asked.

Emma didn't answer; she wrapped her arms around Sean and kissed him. Intensity flew into the kiss, as Sean's arms enclosed around her torso. After the kiss was over, Sean smiled, "That's a yes?"

Emma nodded. They stood there for a few minutes, in silence as Sean gave her the last rose. "This summer was…. Great." Emma said, the smile from before not leaving her face.

"Too bad it's almost over." Sean said, slightly saddened.

"I guess we will just have to make this school year as good as the summer." Emma moved closer to Sean once again and kissed him, intensity uniting their lips once again.

As the school bell rang on the first day, almost instantly, heads were turned as the two girls entered the school with hands clasped together. It was something no one had seen or expected coming from either of them, which is sort of the response Ellie and Alex were expecting, and were more than prepared for. The two smiled at each other and walked towards Ellie's locker. Eyes followed them along with dropped jaws. It didn't take long to annoy Alex. She turned around at the crowd that had their eyes focused on them, which consisted mostly of horny adolescent boys, and curious, snooty girls. "What the hell? Haven't you seen two girls hold hands before?!" she shouted. Alex looked at Ellie and noticed the short smile on her face. Alex took it another step farther as she pulled Ellie closer to her and gave her a warm kiss. Cheers rang through the hallway. Everything from cheers, hoots, rants, hollers, gossip, and snickers. They didn't even care.

Ellie looked into Alex's eyes as their lips parted, "Now that's the way I wanted to kick off the New Year."

Meanwhile...

Hazel hadn't let go of Jimmy's arm since they entered through the doors of Degrassi Community School. She had a smile on her face ever since waking up. Paige and Marco greeted the couple with smiles, and hugs, and let them be on their way. The two walked hand in hand to get their schedule in the office, and came across a scene in the hallway where Alex and Ellie were making out. "Whoa! Now, there's a story I gotta hear!" Jimmy cheered.

"They look happy" Hazel added. The couple smiled, and walked on to get their schedules. Everyone who saw Jimmy came and greeted him along the way to congratulate him on getting back on his feet. After that, the two finally made it to the main office to get their schedules.

Jimmy got his and smiled, "Man, I'm finally back on my feet, and I don't have a gym class on here." he stated jokingly. Hazel laughed a little as she looked over her schedule. "Something wrong?" Jimmy asked.

"English. First Period. With Ms. Kwan." Hazel explained. Jimmy grimaced at her explanation, but hugged and kissed her in an attempt to make her feel better. In which, he succeeded. The bell rang which meant the two had to depart for the first time since Hazel's recovery. Jimmy went off to Media Immersion as Hazel went to English. One thing she was happy about was that no one had asked her about her summer. Currently, she was in no mood for telling anyone or for lying to anyone. However, that privilege wouldn't last long as Hazel walked into Kwan's classroom, and she already had their first assignment on the board.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome back to Degrassi, and I hope you've all enjoyed your summer. As you can see, I already have your first assignment on the board. Get out your journals, put today's date, and write a journal entry for today's prompt: "How I Spent My Summer"

Hazel sighed heavily as the sudden memories of her summer flushed back to her. She took in a deep breath, took out her journal and began to write:

"How I Spent My Summer"

_I lied in my bed staring at my ceiling fan. I had John Legend's "Ordinary People" playing from my stereo. The summer heat blazed through my open window as the sun cascaded down on my face. I stared aimlessly at my ceiling fan until it bored me to watch it spin. All I could do was think now..._

THE END


End file.
